Q-switched, cavity dumped laser systems for material processing

ABSTRACT

This disclosure discusses techniques for obtaining wavelength selected simultaneously super pulsed Q-switched and cavity dumped laser pulses utilizing high optical damage threshold electro-optic modulators, maintaining a zero DC voltage bias on the CdTe electro-optic modulator (EOM) so as to minimize polarization variations depending on the location of the laser beam propagating through the CdSe EOM crystal, as well as the addition of one or more laser amplifiers in a compact package and the use of simultaneous gain switched, Q-switched and cavity dumped operation of CO 2  lasers for generating shorter pulses and higher peak power for the hole drilling, engraving and perforation applications.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/116,360, filed on Apr. 4, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,408,which claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/281,431, filed on Apr. 4, 2001, each of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to short pulse simultaneously Q-switched/cavitydumped and simultaneously super pulsed, Q-switched and cavity dumped CO₂lasers and more particularly to such lasers in material processing

BACKGROUND

It has become well appreciated in the laser machining industry thatmachined feature quality is improved as one utilizes shorter laser pulsewidths and higher laser peak intensity in drilling holes. Morespecifically, the geometry of holes drilled with lasers become moreconsistent and exhibits minimal recast layers and heat-affected zonearound the holes as the laser pulses become shorter and their peakintensity becomes higher (XiangLi Chen and-Xinbing Liu; Short PulsedLaser Machining: How Short is Short Enough, J. Laser, Applications, Vol.11, No. 6, December 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference).

It is desirable to have the highest quality at the lowest cost but oftenone must choose a compromise. High-machined feature quality means lowrecast layer and heat-affected zone thickness, small surface roughness,accurate and stable machined dimensions. Low cost of ownership means aquick return on the investment made in the purchase of the lasermachining equipment. Low cost of ownership also involves lowmaintenance, low operational costs, and high process speeds and-yieldsin addition to low equipment cost. The choice of the laser parameterssuch as wavelength (IR, near IR, visible or UV lasers) and operationalpulse format (milliseconds, microseconds, tenths of microseconds,nanoseconds, picosecond or femtosecond duration pulses) depends on theparticular process, material design tolerance, as well as cost ofownership of the laser system.

Moving from lasers that function in the IR region (i.e. CO₂) to the nearIR (i.e. YAG or YLF), to the visible (i.e. doubled YAG or YLF), to thenear UV (i.e. tripled YAG, YLF or excimer lasers), the trend is towardhigher equipment cost in terms of dollar per laser average output powerand lower average power output (which are disadvantages) while alsohaving a trend toward higher power density (w/cm²) because of theability to focus shorter wavelengths to smaller spot sizes (which is anadvantage).

Moving toward shorter pulsed widths, the laser costs and the peak powerper pulse and therefore power density (w/cm²) both tend to increase,while the average power output tends to decrease which results in thecost in terms of dollars per laser output power to increase.

The recast layer and heat-affected zone thickness are greatly reducedwhen using nanosecond pulses over millisecond and microsecond wide laserpulses (XiangLi Chen and Xinbing Liu; Short Pulsed Laser Machining: HowShort is Short Enough, J. Laser Applications, Vol. 11, No. 6, December1999). These improvements result from the higher laser beam intensityassociated with the higher peak powers that are obtained with shorterlaser pulses that utilize Q-switching, mode locking and other associatedtechniques and the fact that the pulse duration is shorter than thethermal diffusion time. For example, the typical thermal diffusion timefor a 250 micron diameter hole is approximately 0.1 millisecond. Inspite of the lower energy per pulse, high drilling speeds can still becost effectively obtained because of the high pulse repetition rateobtained with these technologies. The high laser beam intensity providedby short laser pulses technology results in vaporization-dominatedmaterial removal rather than the melt-expulsion-dominated mechanismsusing millisecond wide laser pulses. It is also known that shorter pulsewidth yield more limited heat diffusion into the surrounding materialduring the laser pulse. Hole-to-hole dimensional stability is alsoimproved because the hole is drilled by the material being nibbled awayby tens to hundreds of laser pulses of smaller pulse energy butoccurring at a high pulse repetition frequency rather than by a fewhigh-energy pulses. For the same reason, thermal and mechanical shocksfrom nanosecond pulses are also reduced compared with millisecondpulses. These advantageous effects obtained with nanosecond laser pulseshave been detected by observing fewer micocracks occurring when holeswere drilled in brittle materials such as ceramic and glass whenutilizing nanosecond laser pulses.

When the intensity is further increased through laser mode lockingtechniques to get down to the subnanosecond pulse width (i.e.picoseconds and femtosecond region), additional reductions in the recastand heat-affected zones are observed. Since a typical electron energytransfer time is in the order of several picoseconds, femtosecond laserpulse energy is deposited before any significant electron energytransfer occurs within the skin depth of the material. This forms aplasma that eventually explodes and evaporates the material leavingalmost no melt or heat-affected zone. Due to the small energy per pulse(˜1 mJ), any shock that is generated is weak resulting in no microcrackseven in brittle ceramic alumna material. Femtosecond pulses are notpresently obtainable with CO₂ lasers due to the narrow gain of the laserline. Femtosecond pulses are presently obtainable with solid-statelasers.

For the same total irradiated laser energy, femtosecond pulses removetwo to three times more material than the nanosecond pulses. However,even “hero” type, one of a kind experimental, state of the art laserresearch and development systems that operate in the femtosecond rangedeliver only several watts of average power, while nanosecond lasersyield one or two order of magnitude higher power output. Consequently,femtosecond lasers are still too low in average power to deliver therequired processing speeds for most commercial applications. It has beenreported (XiangLi Chen and Xinbing Liu; Short Pulsed Laser Machining:How Short is Short Enough, J. Laser Applications, Vol. 11, No. 6,December 1999) that a 1W femtosecond laser requires more than a minuteto drill a 1.0 mm deep hole of 0.1 mm diameter. Present femtosecondlasers have such high cost that their use is cost effective for onlyspecial high value applications that unfortunately have relative lowunit volume market potential. For example, Lawerance Livermore NationalLab has made use of the fact that femtosecond laser pulse energy isdeposited essentially with no thermal transfer to cut and shape highlysensitive explosive materials without denotation.

It is well known that the trend for optical absorption in metals as afunction of wavelength is toward lower absorption with increasingwavelengths as shown in FIG. 1. Consequently, the near IR, visible andultra violet wavelength regions are most effective in machining mostmetals. This advantage does not exist in plastic material. The datacontained in FIG. 1 is not relevant once a plasma is initiated on themetal surface because all of the laser energy is absorbed in the plasma,which in turn imparts the energy to the material. Once the plasma isinitiated, the absorption as a function of wavelength variation formetals becomes essentially flat. Consequently, one can paint the surfaceof the metal for greater absorption at longer wavelengths and the higherabsorption advantage of shorter laser wavelengths is effectivelyeliminated.

The electronics industry has needs to shrink the size of semiconductorand hybrid packages, and greatly increase the density of printed circuitboards because of the market desire for smaller cellular phones, pagingsystems, digital cameras, lap top and hand held computers, etc. Theseneeds have resulted in interest in the use of lasers to form smallvertical layer-to-layer electrical paths (via) in printed circuitboards. The short pulse CO₂ laser is particularly attractive fordrilling via holes in printed circuit boards because of 1) the highabsorption of the printed circuit board or hybrid circuits resin orceramic material at the CO₂ wavelength when compared to YAG or YLFlasers which operate in the near IR and in the visible and UV wavelengthregions with harmonic generating technique; 2) the lower cost per wattsassociated with CO₂ lasers when compared to YAG lasers, 3) and becauseof the high reflectivity of copper at CO₂ wavelengths, which enables CO₂laser via hole drilling equipment to drill through the resin layer downto the copper layer where the drilling is stopped because of the highreflectivity of the copper interconnect material at the CO₂ laserwavelengths. These are called “blind via,” which connect the outer layerof a circuit to the underlying inner layer within the multi layer board.The major disadvantages of CO₂ lasers in via hole drilling is the largerspot size obtainable with its 10.6 micron wavelength when compared toshorter wavelength laser. Another disadvantage is that pulse widthsbelow several nanosecond are difficult to obtain with CO₂ lasers. Themajor advantages of CO₂ Q-switched lasers are: they offer lower cost perwatt of laser output when compared with solid state lasers, the higherabsorption of their radiation by resin and ceramic board materials,their ability to operate at high PRF, their ability to generatesubstantial output power under Q-switched operation, and their abilityto stop drilling when the radiation gets to the copper layer.

The advantages of drilling via holes in printed circuit boards withlaser systems have enabled laser systems to capture 70% of the via holemachine drilling market in 1999 (David Moser; Laser Tools For ViaFormation, Industrial Laser Solutions, p. 35, May, 2000, which isincorporated herein by reference), with the remaining 25% of the marketheld by photo-via and the remaining 5% by other techniques, such asmechanical drilling, punch and plasma etching.

The upper CO₂ laser transition level has a relatively long decay ratefor storing larger than normal population inversion (385 torr⁻¹ sec⁻¹ at300 K and approximately 1300 torr⁻¹ sec⁻¹ at 500 K). The lower CO₂ laserlevels for both the 9.4 and 10.4 transitions are approximately an orderof magnitude faster so a large population inversion between the lowerlevels and the upper level can be easily maintained. Laser mediums thathave transitions with long lifetime upper energy levels are goodcandidates for application of Q-switched techniques (A. E. Siegman;Lasers, Chapt. 26, University Science Books, 1986, which is incorporatedherein by reference). The long lifetime of the upper levels store energyby building up a higher than normal population with respect to the lowerlaser level. Consequently, CO₂ lasers are good candidates for performingQ-switching (G. W. Flynn et al; Progress and Applications of Q-switchingTechniques Using Molecular Gas Lasers, IEEE J. Quant. Electronics, Vol.QE-2, p. 378–381, September 1966, which is incorporated herein byreference). Consequently, CO₂ lasers are good candidates forsimultaneously Q-switching and cavity dumping in order to obtain shorterpulse widths than obtainable from just Q-switching.

Q-switching is a widely used technique in which a larger than normalpopulation inversion is created within a laser medium by initiallyproviding for a large loss within the feedback cavity. After a largeinversion is obtained, one quickly removes the large optical loss withinthe feedback cavity, thereby quickly switching the cavity Q back to itsusual large value (i.e. low loss value). This results in a very shortintense burst of laser output, which dumps all the excess populationinversion into the short laser pulse (A. E. Siegman; Lasers, Chapt. 26,University Science Books, 1986).

FIG. 47A illustrates the time dependent variation of the losses withinthe feedback cavity that can be obtained with either a rotating feedbackmirror, an electro-optics modulator (i.e. switch) or with anacousto-optics switch inserted in the lasers feedback cavity undercontinuous pumping condition shown in FIG. 47B. FIG. 47A alsoillustrates the time dependent gain variation experience by thecontinuously excited laser under the internal optical cavity lossvariations illustrated. The gain is allowed to rise for an optimum timeof about one or two population decay time of the upper CO₂ laser level.At such an optimum time, the cavity loss is switched from a high loss tothe normal loss condition (or the Q of the cavity is switched from a lowto a high value condition) by applying a high voltage pulse to theelectro-optic modulator (EOM) as shown in FIG. 47B. Since the gaingreatly exceeds the losses at this point, laser oscillations bystimulated emission begins with the output building up exponentially,resulting in the emission of a giant laser output pulse whose peak poweris hundreds of times larger than the continuous power of the laser. Thepulse has a long tail, which will eventually decay down to the lasers'CW power level as long as the gain exceeds the feedback cavity loss.This tail is detrimental to most hole drilling process. The use ofsimultaneously Q-switched and cavity dumped process as revealed in thisinvention will eliminate this long pulse tail problem associated withQ-switching. When the high loss cavity condition is again switched on,the laser action stops and the described dynamic process is repeated.

To the present time, Q-switched and cavity dumped CO₂ lasers have notfound extensive commercial application, as have Q-switched solid-statelasers (whose upper state life times are measured in seconds instead oftenths of seconds as for the CO₂ laser). Nearly all of the Q-switchedCO₂ laser applications to date have addressed predominately military andscientific applications. Some of the reasons for the lack of interest incommercial CO₂ Q-switched and cavity dumped lasers are high cost of theelectro-optic crystal (namely CdTe), limited suppliers for theelectro-optic (EO) crystals, large performance variation betweendifferent optical paths within an EO crystal and large performancevariation between different crystals. There is also difficulty inobtaining good anti reflection thin-film coatings on CdTe crystals. Inaddition, acousto optic modulators in the IR have higher attenuation andpoorer extinction performance than in the visible region, as well aslarger thermal distortion and poorer reliability. Based upon these EOcrystal limitations CO₂ lasers were considered to have poorerreliability than the Q-switched solid state laser which was mostlyattributed to the CdTe crystals. Consequently, superpulse operation, ormechanically Q-switched CO₂ lasers and TEA CO₂ laser techniques havebeen utilized to satisfy most short pulse CO₂ laser industrial needs todate (A. J. DeMaria; Review of CW High Power CO ₂ Lasers, Proceedings ofthe IEEE, pg. 731–748, June 1973, which is incorporated herein byreference).

For these reasons, techniques such as gated CW and super pulse, alongwith external cavity acousto-optic-deflection of either CW or superpulsed lasers into a aperture have been predominately utilized to datewith CO₂ lasers to obtain IR laser pulses for industrial applications.Each of these techniques are deficient when compared with CO₂Q-switching or simultaneous Q-switching and cavity dumped operation inone or more of the following: 1) longer pulse widths with slower risetime, 2) lower pulse repetition frequencies (PRF), 3) lower over alllaser efficiencies, 4) long duration tails associated with the pulsesand 5) lower peak powers. TEA lasers have also been used to date, butthey suffer from higher time jitter from pulse to pulse, higher pulsedvoltage requirements to energize the laser along with associate acousticshock noise from the discharge, low pulse repetition rates andnon-sealed off laser operation which requires gas flow.

Thus it is desirable to make both the Q-switched and Q-switched andcavity dumped CO₂ laser lower in cost, more reliable, to enable the costeffective utilization of the present state of the art of CdTeelectro-optics crystal technology without sacrificing Q-switchingperformance, and obtaining higher peak power and shorter pulses bysimultaneously utilizing super pulse and Q-switching techniques as wellas cavity dumping techniques. It is desirable to make simultaneouslyQ-switched and cavity dumped CO₂ lasers commercially practical becausepulse widths of 7–20 nsec are obtainable while Q-switched CO₂ lasersprovide pulse widths of 100–150 nsec. Shorter pulse have advantages fornumerous hole drilling applications, especially for via hole drilling ofprinted circuit board and for laser marking of stressed glass containersholding a vacuum or partial vacuum-or a pressure higher than ambientpressure such as automobile headlights, flat panel displays, cathode raytubes for TVs and computers, street lights, light bulbs stressed plateglass in automobiles or pressured glass or plastic containers containingsoft drinks, beer, etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a laser material processingsystem. The system includes the laser head and its power unit, which mayor may not have an internal controller. An RF power unit is preferred.The RF power unit can be operated CW or in the super pulsed mode. Thesuper pulsed mode is used to obtain increased peak power laser pulses.The laser head and its power unit and controller are usually provided bya laser supplier, while the controller for the XY scanning system, thescanners, the keyboard, the optical shutter and a display unit areusually the responsibility of the original equipment manufacturer. Theoriginal equipment manufacturer (OEM) controller commands the scanningsystem and the display unit and sends signals to the laser controller,which in turn commands the laser head. If the laser is liquid cooled, achiller is required which either the laser manufacturer or the systemsOEM can supply. Usually, the OEM chooses to supply the chiller. Laserbeam shaping optics are usually required between the laser head and thescanners. Either the laser manufacturer or the OEM system manufacturercan supply the laser beam shaping optics. This overview block diagram isessentially identical to a block diagram used to describe laserengraving, marking, cutting and drilling systems for desk topmanufacturing type applications with the software being basically thedifferentiating portion of the system. The system OEM normally isresponsible for the optical scanner, the system controller and itssoftware and the displays.

The OEM system controller tells the XY optical scanning system where topoint and informs the laser head through the controller within thelaser's head power unit when to turn on or off and how much power is tobe emitted. The OEM system controller also monitors and supervisors thechiller, and displays the desired information on the display unit to thesystem operator who usually enters commands thirough the keyboard thataddress the system controller. The system controllers and the laserpower unit controller also perform appropriate diagnostics to protectthe system from inadequate cooling, RF impedance mismatch between thelaser discharge and the RF power supply, and safety features suchopening and closing the systems optical shutter, etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates the modifications to FIG. 2 for the case when asimultaneously Q-switched, cavity dumped laser is utilized in thematerial processing system. In addition to commanding the laser powersupply, the system controller performs calculations utilizing the inputfrom the operator provided through the keyboard and issues commandsregarding the laser modulation format (i.e. gated output or super pulseoutput for example, the timing of the Q-switched or the simultaneouslyQ-switched, cavity dumped laser laser pulse along with pulse durationand repetition frequency, etc.) and monitoring the status of the laserhead and its power supply as well as the chiller. The system controlleralso issues commands (and may receive signals) from the Q-switched powermodule. The system controller receives signal from an operator through akeyboard and commands as well as monitors the status of the opticalshutter, which can be inserted either before or after the opticalscanners. In some cases, the optical shutter is specified for inclusionat the direct exit of the laser beam out of the laser housing. If theshutter is included as part of the laser housing, the laser manufacturersupplies the optical shutter and its circuitry. The status of the systemis displayed to the operator of the keyboard by an appropriate displayunit. The Q-switching module of FIG. 3 is in principle the same foreither a solid state or gas laser system with the major difference beingthe use of a different electro-optical crystal.

In addition to utilizing Q-switched or a simultaneously Q-switched,cavity dumped lasers and even shorter pulsed laser systems, such as modelocked laser systems for hole drilling applications, the laser system ofFIG. 3 can also be utilized to mark, encode or drill stressed glassvessels or structures as well as to perforate or punch holes in paperwithout charring. The advantage of utilizing simultaneously Q-switchedcavity dumped lasers over Q-switched lasers to mark or encode stressedglass containers, which have a pressure difference between the insideand outside surfaces of the containers, arises because they can providean order of magnitude shorter laser pulse widths. The use ofsimultaneously super pulsed Q-switched and cavity dumped lasers formarking and machining stressed glass containers has not been appreciatednor recognized because such short pulse CO₂ laser systems for suchapplications have not been presently commercially available. Suchcontainers include, for example, sealed glass automotive headlights,streetlights, cathode ray tubes, flat panel displays and beer, soda, andchampagne bottles. Tempered glass surfaces of safety glass doors,windows, and automotive side windows are also good candidates for lasermarking or encoding with short laser pulses because the generation ofmicrocracks in brittle materials such as glass and ceramic materials aregreatly reduced by Q-switched or cavity dumped laser pulses. If longerpulsed laser radiation is used to mark such stress containers and glasssurfaces, micro cracks are created at the location where the laser marksor encodes the glass. These microcracks become enlarged and propagatewith time under the stress load that the brittle material is subjected.CO₂ laser radiation is strongly absorbed by glass and ceramics so theyare the laser of choice for such applications. Because of their size,power, cost and processing speed, CO₂ lasers are preferred for non-metalprocessing of materials. UV radiations are also absorbed by glassmaterial and are considered alternate lasers for such applications, butat higher cost and slower processing speeds.

The high laser beam intensity provided by short pulse laser technologyresults in the vaporization-dominated material removal rather than themelt-expulsion-dominated mechanisms using longer duration pulses.Thermal and mechanical shocks are reduced with the short laser pulsesystem of FIG. 3 when compared with longer pulse systems of FIG. 2.Consequently, micro cracks are greatly reduced under laser marking orencoding with short pulse lasers. Simultaneously Q-switched cavitydumped laser output pulses do not have the long tails associated withQ-switched laser pulses. Consequently, the formation of micro cracks atthe glass location, which is marked or encoded is reduced to a largerextent then with the Q-switched CO₂ laser. The application of the lasersystem of FIG. 3 thereby opens up the market of direct marking orencoding on stressed glass containers and structures. Currently ink jetsor other similar devices are used to mark or encode such glasscontainers and structures. Inkjets have well known disadvantages overlaser marking/encoding system. Some of these disadvantages are theirmark is not permanent and can rub off through handling, and exposure tothe environment, the inks and solvents are consumables and recurringcosts can be high, the inks and solvents are toxics and dirty up thefactory environment and the down time of inkjet marking systems is highwhich adds to their operating costs. The major advantage of inkjetmarking systems for this application is low initial capital cost.

The drilling of numerous small holes in paper or plastic parts withoutcharring the edges of the paper or plastic material is desired in manyindustries. Some examples are in the tobacco filtration, and in thebanking and billing industries for perforating checks and otherfinancial documents. In the past TEA lasers, which suffer from low pulserepetition frequencies, were used for these applications. It has notbeen appreciated that Q-switched and simultaneously Q-switched andcavity dumped lasers lasers can be utilized to perforate such materials.If higher energies are required than those available with a singlesealed-off Q-switched cavity dumped laser, then a laser amplifier can beused to increase the pulse energy of the Q-switched cavity dumped laser.Q-switched lasers and simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped lasershave pulse repetition frequencies of greater than 100 kHz while TEAlasers have an upper practical limit of PRF of 500 Hz.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Background on Cavity Dumping

Simultaneous Q-switched cavity dumped techniques can be used in CO₂lasers to obtain pulse widths of approximately 7 to 20 nanosecondsdepending upon the length of the laser feedback cavity. Cavity dumpingis a technique in which the output coupling out of the laser cavity issuddenly increased to a very large value. This is as if one of the endlaser mirrors had been removed so that all of the circulating energywithin the cavity is “dumped” into an output pulse. For perfect dumping,the output pulse will be exactly one cavity round-trip time T induration, and contains all of the optical energy contained within thecavity. FIG. 4 shows an apparatus by which this can be accomplished.

The laser cavity comprising mirrors 406, 408 of FIG. 4 contains apolarizing beam splitter 405, which makes the cavity 406, 408 oscillatenormally with a given polarization, for example, with a verticallyoriented linear polarization as illustrated in FIG. 4. In order to dumpthe cavity energy, the voltage across the electro-optic modulator 140(e.g. a Pockels cell) is suddenly switched (in a time short compared toT, or typically a few nanoseconds) to a value which makes thetransparent electro-optic crystal 142 become birefringent, with a valuecorresponding to a quarter-wave plate for single pass, or a half-waveplate for double pass. The laser radiation that was linearly-polarizedin the plane of the page, becomes circularly polarized as it passesthrough the crystal 142 going to the right and then coming back throughthe crystal 142 to the left, after being reflected off mirror 408 hasits polarization converted into a polarization perpendicular to theplane of the page after coming back out of the crystal 142. All theenergy in this polarization coming back to the polarizing beam-splitter405 (which can either be an specially coated dielectric plate, as shown,or a polarizing prism, such as a Glan-Thompson prism) is then reflected(e.g. dumped) out of the cavity 406, 408 as shown at 407. The pulsedradiation 407 has a pulse width essentially equal to the time requiredfor light to make one round trip between the mirrors 406 and 408. As apractical matter, a fixed quarter-wave plate (not shown) is often addedto the EOM 140, and the EOM 140 is then initially biased to a fixedvoltage, typically several thousand volts, required to cancel the fixedquarter-wave plate. Since it is easier to short out or “crowbar” the EOMvoltage from a high initial value down to zero volts in a fewnanoseconds (nsec) than it is to switch the same voltage from zero voltsup to the necessary high voltage value in the same length of time,cavity dumping may be accomplished by suddenly switching off the voltageacross the EOM, leaving only the fixed quarter-wave plate. This approachis not well suited with CdTe EOM crystals due to traces of impuritieswhich adversely affect the performance of these crystals inelectro-optical modulator applications under prolonged exposure to highvoltage. In addition, the temperature changes in the quarter wave platecauses variations of the polarization of the radiation propagatingthrough the ¼λ plate.

Consider as an example, a CW laser oscillator running in steady-statewith an approximate 5% output coupling mirror (R=95%), the circulatingintensity inside the laser cavity is then 20 times as large as the CWoutput intensity from the laser. If this circulating intensity issuddenly cavity dumped, the peak power output during the dumped pulsecan be up to 20 times as large as the average or CW power output fromthe laser. By reducing the output coupling essentially to zero, one canmake both the circulating radiation intensity and thus the “dumpable”peak power still larger. It has been found that coated metal mirrors arewell suited for highly reflecting feedback mirrors without sufferingmirror damage under the high intensity radiation within the lasercavity.

If one further allows the intensity inside the cavity to build back upagain, and one then again dumps the laser cavity, using repetitivecavity dumping, one can obtain most of the available power output fromthe laser medium as output in the form of repeated pulses, which havesubstantially higher peak power than the average power from the laser.With proper choice of repetition frequency, the average power in thedumped output can approach the full average power available with optimumcoupling in CW operation; but the higher peak powers can make thisenergy much more effective in drilling, cutting, welding, and othernonlinear laser processes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graphical depiction of a comparison between the absorptionrate of several different metals as a function of wavelength for severallaser sources.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a generalized laser material workingsystem.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a generalized Q-switched or asimultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser material working system.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a laser system generating anoutput beam by cavity dumping.

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a CO₂ cavity dumped laser systemwith a multipass laser amplifier;

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a laser amplifier head of thelaser system of FIG. 5 using a folded NV waveguide configuration for thegain region.

FIG. 7A-7G is a graphical representation of the temporal sequence ofevents in the operation of a continuous wave pumped Q-switched, cavitydumped CO₂ laser.

FIG. 8A is a first schematic representation of an electronic circuit fortruncating a portion of the radiation contained within the Q-switchedlaser cavity which then becomes the output pulse in a simultaneouslyQ-switched and cavity dumped CO₂ laser.

FIG. 8B is a graphical representation of the energy stored within aresonator and a cavity dumped pulse for the electronic circuit of FIG.8A.

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of an Automatic Down Delay Circuitfor compensating for changes in pulse repetition rate and temperature ina simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser.

FIG. 10A is a first graphical representation of the temporalcharacteristics of an electrical signal indicative of the radiation ofthe laser of FIG. 5.

FIGS. 10B and 10C are first graphical representations of the temporalcharacteristics of bias signals for comparison with the electricalsignal of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 11A is a second graphical representation of the temporalcharacteristics of an electrical signal indicative of the radiation ofthe laser of FIG. 5.

FIGS. 11B and 11C are second graphical representations of the temporalcharacteristics of bias signals for comparison with the electricalsignal of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12A-12G are graphical representations showing the temporal sequenceof events in the operation of a simultaneously super pulse pumpedQ-switched, cavity dumped CO₂ laser.

FIG. 13 is a first schematic diagram of a simultaneously Q-switchedcavity dumped CO₂ laser system for material processing.

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of a laser head using an NV foldedwaveguide requiring six mirrors, with a heat exchanger, mirror holdingflanges and a housing for a RF phase matching network used in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a graphical depiction of the output power of CO₂ lasers atvarious laser wavelengths.

FIG. 16 is a graphical depiction of the transmission of an outputcoupling mirror for a CO₂ laser as a function of wavelength.

FIG. 17 is a graphical depiction of the transmission of a turning mirrorfor a CO₂ laser as a function of wavelength used in FIGS. 13, 14 and 18.

FIG. 18 is a second schematic diagram of a simultaneously Q-switchedcavity dumped CO₂ laser system for material processing.

FIG. 19 is a first cross-sectional side view of an electro-opticalmodulator of FIGS. 13 and 18.

FIG. 20 is a second cross-sectional side view of an electro-opticmodulator illustrating greater detail than in FIG. 19 on how not tostress the electro-optic modulator crystal.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional end view of an electro-optical modulator ofFIG. 21.

FIG. 22 is a diagram of the arrangement of an electro-optic crystalreceptive of a laser beam and subject to a constant applied voltage.

FIG. 23 is a graphical depiction of the variation in the optical phaseshift in the laser beam passing through the electro-optical crystal ofFIG. 22 as a function of position across the face of the electro-opticalcrystal.

FIG. 24A is a first schematic diagram of an electro-optical modulatorwithin a laser cavity with no voltage applied across the electro-opticalcrystal resulting in a state of high optical loss within the lasercavity.

FIG. 24B is a first schematic diagram of an electro-optical modulator ina laser cavity with a nonzero voltage applied across the electro-opticalcrystal resulting in a state of low optical loss within the lasercavity.

FIG. 25A is a second schematic diagram of an electro-optical modulatorwithin a laser cavity with no voltage applied across the electro-opticalcrystal resulting in a state of high optical loss within the lasercavity.

FIG. 25B is a second schematic diagram of an electro-optical modulatorwithin a laser cavity with a nonzero voltage applied across theelectro-optical crystal resulting in a state of low optical loss withinthe laser cavity.

FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C depict multiple pass configurations of theelectro-optical modulator of FIGS. 24A–25B.

FIG. 27 is a first graphical depiction of oscilloscope traces of a highvoltage pulse applied to an electro-optical crystal in a Q-switchedlaser and the resultant output pulse of the laser.

FIG. 28 is a second graphical depiction of a high voltage pulse appliedto an electro-optical crystal in a Q-switched laser and the resultantoutput pulse of the laser.

FIG. 29A is a first schematic diagram of an electronic circuit fortruncating a portion of the output pulse in a CO₂ Q-switched laser.

FIG. 29B is a graphical depiction of the variations in the triggering ofthe output of the circuit of FIG. 29A as a function of the variations inthe rise time and amplitude of the output pulse in a CO₂ Q-switchedlaser.

FIG. 30A is a second schematic diagram of an electronic circuit fortruncating a portion of output pulse in a CO₂ Q-switched laser.

FIG. 30B is a graphical depiction of the variations in the triggering ofthe output of the circuit of FIG. 30A as a function of the time delayand attenuation of the output pulse in a CO₂ Q-switched laser.

FIG. 31A is a graphical depiction of an oscilloscope trace of the outputpulse of a CO₂ Q-switched laser with a long tail.

FIG. 31B is a graphical depiction of an oscilloscope trace of the outputpulse of a CO₂ Q-switched laser with a truncated tail.

FIGS. 32A and 32B are schematic depictions of the housing and thearrangement of the electronic circuits of FIGS. 29A and 30A.

FIGS. 33A, 33B, 33C and 33D are graphical depictions of the relativetiming of the charging and discharging signals, the high voltage signalapplied to an electro-optical modulator and the resultant output pulseof a Q-switched laser.

FIG. 34 is an electrically equivalent schematic diagram corresponding toFIG. 33 utilizing the positions of mechanical charging and dischargingswitches to explain the switching circuit processes for an electro-opticmodulator in a Q-switched laser.

FIG. 35 is a more detailed schematic diagram of the switching circuit inFIG. 34.

FIG. 36 is a schematic diagram of the housing and the placement of theassembly of the elements of the switching circuit of FIG. 35.

FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram of an automatic laser stop circuit for asimultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser used in drilling blind viaholes.

FIG. 38A is a graphical depiction of the laser output powers for variousmodulation techniques wherein format 1 is for CW modulated and pulsedgated; format II is for gain switched super pulsed; format III is forQ-switched with tail clipping; format IV is for super pulsed Q-switchedwith tail clipping, format V is for simultaneously Q-switched cavitydumped and format VI is for simultaneously super pulsed, Q-switched,cavity dumped operation.

FIG. 38B is a graphical depiction of the relative timing of theapplication of a super pulsed RF pump power to a laser gain medium and asingle pulse applied to an electro-optic crystal in a simultaneouslysuper pulsed pumped and Q-switched laser.

FIG. 39 is a graphical depiction of the relative timing of theapplication of super pulsed RF pump power to a laser gain medium and therepetitive pulses applied to an electro-optic crystal in asimultaneously super pulsed pumped and repetitively Q-switched laser.

FIG. 40 is a graphical depiction of oscilloscope traces of theexperimental results of the application of super pulsed RF pumped powerto a laser gain medium and the repetitive Q-switched output laser pulsesresulting from repetitive electrical pulses applied to an electro-opticcrystal in a simultaneously super pulsed pumped and Q-switched CO₂ laserwhose output was depicted in of FIG. 39.

FIG. 41 is a graphical depiction of the relative timing of theapplication of super pulsed RF pump power to a laser gain medium and theincreasing amplitude of repetitive pulses applied to an electro-opticcrystal in a simultaneously super pulsed pumped and repetitivelyQ-switched laser with the Q-switched pulses increasing in amplitude.

FIG. 42 is a schematic block diagram of the electronic circuitcontrolling the high voltage applied to the electro-optic modulator ofFIGS. 13 and 18 for controlling the peak output pulse power of aQ-switched laser.

FIG. 43 is a schematic diagram of an acousto-optic system forcontrolling the output peak power of a Q-switched CO₂ laser.

FIG. 44 is a first graphical depiction of simultaneously super pulsed RFpulsed pumped, Q-switched and cavity dumped CO₂ laser with increasingamplitude output pulses.

FIG. 45 is a second graphical depiction of a simultaneously super pulsedRF pulsed pumped, Q-switched and cavity dumped CO₂ laser showing varyingrepetitive Q-switched output pulses.

FIG. 46A-46D is a graphical depiction of the operation of a CO₂ laserwherein FIG. 46A depicts an RF continuous wave operation, FIG. 46Bdepicts RF amplitude gated operation at low repetition frequency, FIG.46C depicts RF amplitude gated operation at high repetition frequencyand FIG. 46D depicts RF super pulsed pumped operation.

FIG. 47A is a graphical depiction of the cavity loss, gain and laseroutput pulse in a repetitively pulsed Q-switched laser.

FIG. 47B is a graphical depiction of the continuous wave radio frequencypower input to a Q-switched CO₂ laser and the high voltage signaldelivered to an electro-optic modulator to effect Q-switching.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Simultaneously Q-Switched Cavity Dumped CO₂ Laser Housing

FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic overview of a laser assembly 100,including a laser housing 102 for a sealed-off, folded waveguide,electro-optically Q-switched cavity dumped CO₂ laser head 400. Amultiple (e.g. five) pass zig-zag folded waveguide is shown at 806within the laser head 400 for illustration purposes. A three pass, or,more than five pass, folded waveguide configuration could also be usedin the hermetically sealed laser head 400. It will be understood thatanother option is to have a free space folded beam path. Since outputpower of waveguide lasers scales with discharge length, more folds canbe added if higher average power is desired. Turning mirrors (TM4) 414utilize a metal O-ring to maintain the hermetical seal as disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/612,733 entitled High PowerWaveguide Laser, filed on Jul. 10, 2000 (which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety) and in U.S. provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/041,092 entitled RF Excited Waveguide Laser filed on Mar.14, 1997 (which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).The FBM 406 and 408 form the laser cavity by trapping laser radiationtherebetween. The TM 414 transmits approximately 1% or less of theradiation out of the hermetically sealed laser head 400. The mirrorholder flange 804 for the FBM 406 and the TM 414 are as disclosed inU.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/041,092 entitled RFExcited Waveguide Laser filed on Mar. 14, 1997. Turning mirrors 416, donot transmit radiation out of the laser head 400. The holders 802 forturning mirrors 416 are the same as the disclosed in U.S. provisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/041,092 entitled RF Excited WaveguideLaser filed on Mar. 14, 1997.

The mirror holder 802 for the thin film polarizer (TFP) 404 mounted onthe laser head 400 is a modified version of that for TM4 414. Themodification is needed because of the larger diameter and the anglerequired for TFP 404. It is also a modified version of the mirror holderfor thin film polarizer 114. The modification over the TFP 114 holder isrequired because of the need for thin film polarizer 404 to be mountedon the laser head 400, which requires a hermetical seal. TFP 114 ismounted on the laser housing 102 where a hermetical seal is notrequired. There is an option to place a window 404 b in place of TFP 404and then place TFP 404 outside of the laser head 400. FIG. 14illustrates an isometric view of the laser head 400 with mirror holders802 and 804 containing the TFP 404 and its retainer ring 404 a, as wellas mirrors 416 and 414.

For many plastic materials, CO₂ laser operation in the 9.2 micronswavelength band, a wavelength of approximately 9.25 microns is preferredover a wavelength of 10.6 microns or other wavelengths because of theincreased absorption of the material at 9.25 microns. When operation ata lower CO₂ gain line is desired as in this case, it becomes necessaryto suppress lasing at higher gain lines. This is especially true underQ-switching, or simultaneously Q-switching and cavity dumping laseroperations because of the very high gain that is built-up under the highoptical loss (i.e. laser hold-off) condition. FIG. 15 illustrates therelative power output of the various gain lines that can be emitted by aCO₂ laser. Additional lines can be obtained with the use of CO₂ isotopesgas fill. Note that high gains occur at wavelength of approximately 9.3,9.6, 10.25 and 10.6 microns. One can utilize a grating to select any oneof these high gain lines or lower gain lines and discriminate againstthe rest. Unfortunately gratings are expensive, easily damaged by highintensity laser radiation and optically lossey. Since the laser beam isfolded in FIG. 13, one can utilize one or more state-of-the-art mirrorsthat have thin-films deposited on them to reflect the desired gain lineback into the cavity, thereby favoring the desired line or lines foroscillation.

FIG. 16 shows the functional relationship of transmission vs wavelengthof a coated ZnSe mirror that has a 50% transmission at a wavelength ofabout 9.25 microns, approximately 90% transmission at wavelengths ofabout 10.25 and 10.6 microns and approximately 70% transmission at awavelength of 9.6 microns. These are the highest gain lines for CO₂lasers. This mirror performance is well suited for a Q-switched laserfeedback mirror if one was to be used in place of 408 in the laser head400 of FIG. 13 because it transmits more of the undesired wavelengthsout of the laser cavity, defined between FBM 406 and feedback mirror408, if oscillation at a wavelength of 9.25 microns is desired.

For the simultaneously Q-switched and cavity dumped laser, the mirror ofFIG. 16 is not used. The discrimination against undesired gain lines isobtained by applying thin film reflecting wavelength coatings on one ormore of the turning mirrors 416 so that they have higher reflectivity atthe desired wavelength and lower reflectivity at the undesiredwavelengths. This characteristic beneficially contributes to theoscillation at the desired wavelength while assisting in the preventionof oscillation at undesired wavelengths. It may not be necessary to coatall three of these mirrors, one can coat only as many as required toprevent undesired oscillation on other gain lines. FIG. 17 illustratesthe functional relationship of the transmission vs wavelength of a ZnSethin-film coated mirror that has only 1% transmission (i.e. 99%reflectivity) at a wavelength of 9.25 microns and higher transmission(i.e. lower reflectivity) at the higher CO₂ gain lines with wavelengthsof 9.6, 10.25 and 10.6 microns. These specific characteristics favor theoscillation at a wavelength of 9.25 micron and discriminate against theoscillation on the other gain lines. This coating can also be used onturning mirrors TM₁, TM₂ and TM₃ 416 as required for additionalwavelength discrimination.

Mirror 414 of FIG. 13 has high reflectivity at the desired wavelength(e.g. 9.25 microns). It none-the-less transmits a small amount ofradiation out of the cavity (about 1% or less at a wavelength of 9.25microns). The small radiation output of mirror 414 is detected by adetector 302 such as a pyro-detector whose electrical signal 304 is fedto an Automatic Down Delay Circuit (ADDC) 306. The purpose of the ADDC306 in the Q-switched case is to clip the long tail of the Q-switchedlaser pulse after a selected time delay, τ_(pc), from the beginning ofthe laser pulse. For the Q-switched cavity dumped case, the ADDC 306 isused to quickly take the voltage away from the EOM at the peak of theQ-switched pulse trapped between the mirrors 406 and 408. At this pointthe laser radiation contained between mirrors 406 and 408 is at amaximum. The voltage across the EOM converts the cavity to a high lossstate and the energy within the cavity is dumped out of the cavity bythe TFP₁ 404. In the cavity dumped case the ADDC must be faster than inthe Q-switched case and its signal is fed directly to the HV switchinstead of to the RS422 Pulse Receiver as in the Q-switched case. Mirror406 directs the pulse to TFP2 and out of the laser housing to theworkpiece. Mirror 414 and thin film polarizer 404 are hermeticallysealed to the laser head.

From a cost, reliability and vacuum integrity standpoint it is wise tominimize openings in a laser head that has to be hermetically sealed.Consequently, as seen in FIG. 18, one may use the option of havingfeedback mirror (FBM) 408 of FIG. 13 to have a small amount oftransmission (about ½ to 1%) (i.e. by not using a metal coated mirrorfor example) and detecting this output radiation with the detector 302for supplying the electrical signal 304 to the ADDC 306. Thisalternative allows mirror 414 to utilize the same mirror holder as formirror 416, and allows mirror 414 to be placed inside the laser head 400so that a hermetically sealing metal O-ring will not be required formirror 414 since it no longer needs to emit radiation outside the laserhead 400. It also allows mirror 414 to serve as an additional opticalfilter to discriminate against other wavelengths if needed. Bothreflecting mirrors 406 and 408 are highly reflecting in order to trapthe laser radiation within the laser cavity until released by the EOM.

The thin-film polarizer (TFP) 404 of FIGS. 13 and 18 serves the samefunction as the TFP 404 of FIGS. 24A and 24B and 25A and 25B as will beexplained in the narrative associated with those figures. In FIGS. 24Aand 24B, the laser radiation polarized perpendicular to the plane of thepage passes through TFP 404 of FIGS. 25A–25B, 13 and 18, then it passesthrough an electro-optic modulator (EOM) 140 through a ¼ wavepolarization rotator 412 to the FBM 408. In FIGS. 25A and 25B thepolarization exiting TFP 404 passes through the electro-optic modulator140 off the reflective phase retarder (RPR) 410 to the FBM 408. FIGS. 13and 18 illustrate how the pulsed signal 106 from the laser head's powersupply controller unit 104 is feed to the EOM 140 by a pulse receiver202 such as a RS422 differential transistor/transistor logic (TTL)circuit. This circuit 202 provides good noise immunity for the rest ofthe electronics interfacing with the laser assembly 100 from the highvoltage (i.e. several kV's) pulse switching circuit 206 that drives theEOM 140. The pulse receiver 202 provides electrical isolation by nothaving a common ground with the laser head 400. The high voltage powersupply 208 provides DC power to both the pulse receiver 202 and to theswitching circuit 206.

The power supply controller unit 104 of the laser system 100 providessignals to a driver 110 of an optical shutter 112 to block or unblockthe output 402 from the laser head 400. This optical shutter is added sothat the operator can manually open the shutter to operate the laser, asis well known in the art.

High Optical Damage Threshold Electro-Optic Modulator

Active optical CdTe crystals are utilized extensively as electro-opticmodulators for CO₂ lasers. It is generally difficult to getanti-reflection coatings to adhere well to the entrance and excitingsurfaces of the CdTe modulator crystals. These films can easily bedamaged when inserted into CO₂ laser feedback cavities. Anti-reflectioncoatings are used to reduce optical losses when these crystals areinserted within a laser feedback cavity to switch the cavity losses froma higher loss condition (i.e. low cavity Q) to a low loss condition(i.e. high cavity Q). Peeling and optical damaging of these coatings bythe intense laser radiation is a common damage failure for thesemodulators when used to Q-switch CO₂ lasers. Solving the thin filmoptical damage problem of the EO modulation crystals would result in asignificant increase in the failure damage safety margin of Q-switcbedCO₂ lasers and in the material drilling systems in which they areutilized.

The anti-reflecting thin film damage problem is much less severe withpassive optical IR window materials such as ZnSe or GaAs (U.S. Pat. No.5,680,412, which is incorporated herein by reference). Since CdTe andZnSe have refractive indices, n, which are close to one another (i.e.n=2.6 and 2.4 respectively) at CO₂ laser wavelengths, optically polishedZnSe windows can be placed in optical contact with-the entrance and exitsurfaces of a CdTe EO crystal and not experience high transmissionlosses through either direction of the CdTe/ZnSe interface. The lossesfor a ZnSe/CdTe/ZnSe electro-optical modulator structure are a littlehigher than for thin film coated CdTe EO modulators, but the trade-offbetween the improvement in the reliability of the laser and the slightlyhigher losses is worth it. FIG. 19 illustrates such a ZnSe/CdTe/ZnSe EOmodulator structure at 140. High optical damage thresholdanti-reflection thin film coatings on ZnSe are easily deposited and arecommercially available. Item 142 is the CdTe EO crystal and items 148and 150 are the ZnSe transparent windows in optical and thermal contactwith the CdTe EO crystal 142.

The problem experienced in the deposition of anti-reflection coatings onCdTe is believed to arise from the fact that in order to get goodadherence films, the CdTe needs to be heated to a high enoughtemperature so as to cause the material to decompose; i.e. Te is drivenoff of the surfaces of the CdTe crystal 142 to be coated. This leaves aCd enriched surface that presents an electrical conducting path betweenelectrodes 146 and 144 of the EO modulator of FIG. 19. Under the highvoltage applied to the electrodes of the CdTe crystal 142 this poorelectrical conducting path along the surfaces of the crystal causeselectric current to flow between the electrodes 144, 146 which in turncauses non-uniform heating at the interface of the thin filmanti-reflection coatings and the CdTe crystal surface. This leads to aweakened bond between the two materials. In addition, the periodicstress imposed by the pulsating laser radiation also contributes to theoptical damage in the poor bond between the anti-reflecting films andthe CdTe substrate, which causes the Q-switched laser performance todeteriorate with time. ZnSe can be heated to the necessary temperaturefor the deposition of good adherence anti-reflecting films withoutdecomposition of the material. It is fortuitous that the refractiveindex between ZnSe and CdTe crystals is sufficiently close so as toyield low optical losses at their contacting surfaces if these twomaterials are placed in optical contact.

FIG. 19 illustrates in a side view of the basic components of anelectro-optical modulator 140 containing, for example, a CdTe crystal142 having conductive electrodes 144, 146 applied on opposite sidesthereof. The CdTe crystal 142 is disposed between two transparentwindows 148, 150 whose refractive index matches or comes close tomatching the crystal 142. For the case of the CdTe EO crystal, ZnSe issuitable. The outer faces 148 a and 150 a of the transparent windows148, 150 are anti-reflection coated. It is assumed that the depositionof a high optical damage threshold thin film coating on crystal 142 isdifficult if not impossible while such coatings are easily depositableon windows 148, 150. The EO modulator housing 152 includes dielectricsupport member 154, which has an opening 156 so that electrical contactcan be made to electrodes 144, 146. The EO modulator housing 152 has endsupport members 158, 162, each having an opening 160, 164 through whichlaser radiation 402 can pass through the window/EO crystal assembly. Endmembers 158, 162 are secured to member 154 by fasteners 166, 167, 168,169. The laser beam 402 is positioned with respect to the optical axis418 of crystal 142 for amplitude or phase modulation.

FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate side and end views, respectively, of the EOmodulator assembly 140 in greater detail. Since CdTe is birefringent,mechanical stress can cause changes in the polarization rotation.Consequently, to obtain optimum optical performance, it is important notto stress the EO crystal 142 by holding it so tight that normal thermalexpansion and contraction will stress the crystal 142 thereby causingchanges in the polarization of the laser radiation propagating throughthe crystal 142, independent of any voltage applied across the crystal142. The crystal 142 is contained in a metal housing 2, which isfabricated, for example, of Aluminum (Al). Item 18 b is a thin (e.g.0.10 inches in thickness) cushion, such as an Indium strip, which isplaced between the metal housing 2 (which serves as a ground electrode)and the CdTe crystal 142 and the ceramic spacers (items 4 and 5). Item18 a is also a thin cushion, such as an Indium strip, that is placedbetween the CdTe crystal 142 and the entire length of the hot copperelectrode 144. A spring associated with screws 17 provide cushions forthe crystal 142 from being over stressed by the tightening of bolts 14and 17. Since CdTe is also a piezoelectric material, the Indium stripalso acts as an acoustic absorber for the ultrasonic energy generated bythe CdTe crystal as the voltage is repetitively applied and removedacross the crystal 142. This acoustic absorption is important for properoperation of the CdTe electro-optic modulator 140. The electrically“hot” positive electrode 144 is pressed against the EO crystal 142 by adielectric 6, which has a hole in it to enable making an electricalcontact to the hot electrode 144. The dielectric 6 is spring loaded 15so as to gently press the hot electrode 144 against the EO crystal 142by the threaded bolts 14. The bolts 14 are threaded through a metalcover 8 fabricated from the same material as the metal housing 2. Thiscover 8 is bolted into the metal housing 2 by bolts 20. There is a thinplate 18 c of Indium metal between the metal housing 2 and the EOcrystal 142 and between dielectrics 4 and 5 and the EO crystal 142 tocushion the crystal 142 against the housing 2, to absorb the acousticenergy generated by the piezoelectric action of the CdTe crystal 142when the voltage is repetitively applied and removed from the crystal142 and also to ensure good electrical contact between the electrodesand the EO crystal 142. Dielectrics 4, 5 hold the EO crystal 142sideways, again by spring action 16 upon which pressure is exerted bythe threaded bolt 16. Optically polished transparent windows 148, 150are pressed up against the optically polished end faces 172, 176 of theEO crystal 142 by the use of wave springs 13 which are compressed by theretainer spring holder 11 by bolts 21. The retainer spring holder 11 hasa hole 11 a in it to provide passage of a laser beam 402 through theZnSe window/CdTe EO crystal/ZnSe window arrangement 172, 142, 176. Theouter surfaces 22 of the transparent windows 148, 150, which are not incontact with the EO crystal end faces 172, 176, are coated with ananti-reflection coating to minimize optical transmission loss throughthe structure 140. Items 9 and 10 are an insert and a window holder,respectively, to ensure that excessive compression cannot be directedtoward the transparent window 148, 150 and crystal interface. Springs 15and 16 are used to prevent stressing the CdTe crystal 142 so that itsbirefringence does not cause undesired rotation of the polarization ofthe laser radiation passing through the crystal 142.

Maintaining Zero DC Bias on CdTe EO Crystals for Q-Switched/CavityDumped IR Lasers

CdTe electro-optic modulator crystals contain traces of impurities atvery low concentration levels, which adversely affect the performance ofthese crystals in electro-optical modulator applications. Theconcentrations are so low that they are difficult to control in thecrystal growing process. Consequently, the yield in growing thesecrystals with the same phase retardation performance for a given appliedvoltage from crystal to crystal is not high, especially if the crystalis operated by requiring that an external DC bias be maintained acrossthe crystal for a long time. The reasons why these impurities adverselyeffect EO modulator performance in Q-switched lasers are as follows. Itis well known that the voltage, V_(o), required to be placed across anEO crystal in order to change the phase of the optical radiationpropagating therethrough by ½λ (or 180 degrees) is given by:

$\begin{matrix}{V_{o} = {\frac{\lambda_{o}}{2n_{o}^{3}r_{41}} \times \frac{d}{l}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$where λ_(o) is the wavelength of the radiation×10⁻⁴ cm,

$\frac{d}{l}$is the aperture/length ratio of the crystal, n_(o) is the refractiveindex of the crystal (=2.6 in CdTe) and r₄₁ is the electro-opticcoefficient (=6.8×10⁻¹⁰ cm/volt in CdTe) (A. J. Beauliea; TransverselyExcited Atmospheric Pressure CO ₂ Lasers, Applied Phys. Letters, Vol.16, pg. 504–506, June 1970, which is incorporated herein by reference).Typically a CdTe crystal of d=0.5 cm and l=5 cm requires a voltage ofV_(o)=4.35 kV to obtain ½λ phase retardation.

When a DC voltage calculated from Eq. 1 is applied across a crystal 142,as illustrated by FIG. 22, the residing charge carriers within thecrystal 142 move slowly through the crystal 142 and become capturedwithin the unevenly distributed traps caused by the aforesaidimpurities. Besides being unevenly distributed, the sizes of the trapsalso vary. These localized, captured charges set-up a DC bias within thecrystal 142. This in turn causes variations in the phase retardationsuffered by the radiation propagating through the crystal 142 as afunction of the location of the propagation path through the crystal142. In addition, these internally generated phase retardations varywith ambient temperature and with time. The yield in producing crystalsthat do not demonstrate these effects is low and consequently the costis high for obtaining crystals having acceptable performance. Theseproblems have been a big influence toward limiting the application ofQ-switched CO₂ lasers to primarily military applications and not towardindustrial applications.

An approach that addresses the difficulties discussed above in order toobtain a Q-switched CO₂ laser suitable for industrial materialprocessing applications is disclosed that ensures that an external DCbias is not required on the EO crystal 142 in order to obtain a highloss state within the laser cavity 406, 408. FIG. 22 illustrates anexperimental arrangement to determine the effects, at various locationsacross the face 172 of a crystal 142, of the trapped charges on thepolarization of the optical radiation propagating through a CdTe crystal142, at a given time and temperature, when subjected to a ½λ retardationDC voltage. Such a variation in polarization across the face of thecrystal 142 is indicated by the surface 182 of FIG. 23. If the crystalwere perfect, one would obtain a 180° rotation of the polarizationvector such that the polarization exiting of the crystal would equal thepolarization entering the crystal 142. Instead a rotation of thepolarization by a phase angle, θ, varying from spot to spot 172 a acrossthe face 172 of the crystal 142 is found.

FIG. 23 illustrates phase retardation data taken on a CdTe crystalsubjected to a 4, 400V DC bias voltage. Note the large variation awayfrom the uniform 180° phase retardation that would be expected from aperfect crystal. Under this situation, one has no choice but to select agiven location over the face of the crystal and adjust the voltage toobtain the desired phase retardation. This results in the use of anarrow laser beam whose diameter is much smaller than the crosssectional area of the crystal. If a large beam is used, then differentportions of the cross section of the beam would experience differentphase retardations as the beam progresses through the crystal. Thiseffect would also require that each Q-switched laser must have thevoltage and location across the EO crystal be individually adjusted toobtain the required phase retardation. Because of the nature of thetrapped charges not being tightly captured and the fact that they have aslow mobility, the phase retardation shown in FIG. 23 varies with timeand the temperature of the crystal. This compounds the difficulty ofusing EO Q-switched lasers in industrials applications. In addition, ifthe polarity of the applied DC voltage is reversed, an entirelydifferent phase retardation pattern across the face of the crystal isobtained.

One approach to getting around these CdTe material problems in order toobtain a CO₂ Q-switched laser suitable for industrial materialprocessing applications comprises operating the EO modulator under azero DC voltage condition during the high cavity optical loss portion ofthe pumping interval of the Q-switching cycle indicated in FIGS. 47A and47B. The DC voltage is only applied to the CdTe crystal 142 during theshort time of the pulse output interval shown in FIGS. 47A and 47B whenthe cavity loss is low (i.e. the cavity has a high Q). The short timethat the voltage is applied to the crystal prevents the charge carriersfrom congregating in traps and generating an internal DC bias unevenlyacross the crystal 142.

The arrangement for operating CdTe crystals 142 with no external DCvoltage applied to the EO modulator crystal 142 and inserted within aQ-switched laser is shown schematically in FIG. 24A. The output beam ofa CO₂ laser having highly reflecting mirrors 406 and 408 is polarizedparallel to the plane of the metal electrode 730 that is exposed to thegas discharge within the laser gain medium 726 as it leaves the lasergain medium. Consequently, in the side view shown in FIG. 24A, theoptical electric field is polarized perpendicular to the plane of thepaper as shown with the dots “•” in FIG. 24A. A thin film polarizer(TFP) 404, is inserted between the laser gain medium 726 and the highoptical damage threshold EO modulator assembly 140 as shown in FIGS. 24Aand 24B. The TFP 404 is positioned so that the optical radiation 402polarized perpendicular to the plane of the paper propagates through theTFP 404 with minimum optical losses (FIGS. 24A and 24B). However,optical radiation 402 polarized in the plane of the paper does notpropagate through TFP 404 (FIG. 24A). Polarization in the plane of thepaper is shown by the arrows “⇄” and “

” Radiation exiting to the left of TFP 404 passes through the laser gainmedium 726, partially reflected back into the laser gain medium 726 bythe partially reflecting mirror 406, and back through TFP 404 into theCdTe EOM assembly 140.

In FIG. 24A, the radiation 402 polarized perpendicular to the plane ofthe paper emitted by the laser gain medium 726 propagates through theTFP 404 and continues through the high damage threshold ZnSe/CdTe/ZnSeEO modulator assembly 140 of FIGS. 19, 20, 21 and 22 and a polarizationrotator 412 such as a quarter wave plate. The ¼λ plate 412 is utilizedto convert linear polarization to circular polarization as shown by thecircular arrows “

,” “

,” Other polarization rotating devices can also be used, such as quarterwave rhombs, prisms or reflective phase retarders.

The linearly polarized beam 402 propagating through the ¼λ plate 412 inFIG. 24A becomes circularly polarized and is in turn reflected off thereflecting mirror 408 back through the ¼λ plate 412 thereby experiencinganother 90-degree rotation in polarization. The optical radiationpropagating back toward the ZnSe/CdTe/ZnSe EO modulator assembly 140 isnow polarized parallel to plane of the paper. This radiation propagatesthrough the EO modulator assembly 140 back toward the TFP 404. The TFP404 reflects this polarization component out of the laser cavity 406,408. This in effect maintains a high loss condition for the laser cavity406, 408 with no voltage applied to the EO crystal 142. This high losscondition prevents the laser from oscillating which in turn enables thepopulation (i.e. the gain) in the upper laser level to build-up to amuch larger than normal value. This population build-up acts as anoptical energy storage process for the laser. This optical stored energyis released by applying a voltage to the EO modulator crystal 142 inorder to induce a ¼λ (i.e. 90 degree) polarization rotation. Thisarrangement avoids the phase retardation variation problems caused bythe impurities within the CdTe material as mentioned previously.

The switch to a low cavity loss condition of the laser cavity 406, 408can be made to occur as follows. The spontaneous emission radiationemitted by the laser gain medium 726 that is polarized perpendicular tothe plane of the paper as shown in FIG. 24B, propagates through the TFP404 and through the high optical threshold ZnSe/CdTe/ZnSe EO modulatorassembly 140. The difference this time is that a voltage applied to theEO modulator 140 provides a 90-degree (i.e. ¼λ) polarization rotation tothe radiation exiting to the right of the EO crystal 142. The voltageapplied in this arrangement is ½ of V_(o) of Eq. 1 because the radiationmakes two passes through the EOM crystal 142. Consequently, theradiation leaving the EO modulator 140 is circularly polarized. Whenthis circularly polarized radiation propagates through the ¼λ plate 412,it becomes linearly polarized in the plane of the paper as shown in FIG.24B. This linearly polarized radiation is reflected from the reflectingmirror 408 as linearly polarized light, back through the ¼λ plate 412,which again rotates the radiation by 90 degrees and converts it tocircular polarization. This circularly polarized light is directed backthrough the EO crystal 142. Since a ¼λ voltage is still experienced bythe CdTe crystal 142, the circular polarization is again rotated by 90degrees, which converts the radiation back to the original polarizationperpendicular to the plane of the paper as seen in FIG. 24B. Thispolarized radiation is propagated through the TFP 404 into the lasergain medium 726 and amplified therein. The optical intensity within thelaser cavity 406, 408 can now build up rapidly thereby depleting thelarger than normal optical energy stored in the upper laser level whichresults in a short, high peak power laser output pulse 402 a. By theabove described process, the radiation is rotated 360 degree by makingtwo passes through the EO modulator 140 and the quarter wave plate 412.This radiation build up constitutes the Q-switched process of asimultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser operation. The removal ofthe voltage from the EOM crystal converts the laser cavity to a highloss condition by dumping the Q-switched pulse radiation out of thecavity by the TFP 404. This output pulse constitutes the cavity dumpedpulse.

Reflective phase retarders have found extensive applications in thelaser material processing industry to avoid variation in the Kerf width(or cross-section of the laser cut) caused by how the linearly polarizedlaser beam making the cut in the material is oriented with respect tothe direction in which the beam is traveling. It is well known that theorientation of the polarization in relation to the direction of the cutsignificantly affects the cut cross-section. The conversion of thelinear polarization into circular polarization eliminates thecross-section variation of the laser cut with direction of travel of thelaser beam. RPRs are capable of handling the intensity within a lasercavity and are preferred for use in Q-switched CO₂ lasers suitable forindustrial material processing applications. FIGS. 25A and 25Billustrate the use of a RPR 410 in place of the ¼λ plate 412 of FIGS.24A and 24B. The explanation for the RPR 410 is the same as for thequarter wave plate 412.

FIGS. 25A and 25B illustrate the operation of a Q-switched cavity dumpedlaser with a 90 degree reflective phase retarder device 410 in place ofthe ¼λ plate of FIGS. 24A and 24B. The alignment of the RPR 410 is notvery sensitive where as the alignment of the laser's reflecting mirror408 with the lasers partially reflecting mirror 406 is sensitive.Consequently, the reflecting mirror 408 and the RPR 410 can bepre-aligned and placed in one housing (not shown). This housing can thenbe aligned with respect to the partially reflecting mirror 406.

The above paragraphs describe the low loss condition of FIG. 47A. FIG.47B shows the corresponding time sequence of the CWRF power and the highvoltage applied to the EOM in the Q-switched laser operation. The ¼λ DCvoltage can be applied and subsequently removed in a periodic or random“on-command” pulsed format to obtain trains of cavity dumped pulses. Thelow loss enables the large energy stored in the upper state of the lasermedium and within the cavity to be emitted in a single cavity dumpedpulse of radiation with several orders of magnitude greater peak powerover the continuous wave average power and more than one order ofmagnitude greater peak power over the RF super pulsed pumped operationof CO₂ lasers. The pulse widths obtained in the cavity dumped mode ofoperation is equal to the round trip time light requires to transitbetween the feedback cavity mirrors 406, 408.

Multiple Passes to Reduce EO Crystal Size and Voltage Requirements

The larger the EO crystal that is required, the more difficult it is toobtain good quality crystals. Furthermore, the cost of the crystalincreases with size. On the other hand, the smaller the ratio of d/l, inEq. 1, the lower the voltage, V_(o), required to be applied across thecrystal to obtain the desired polarization rotation. Consequently,making two or more passes through the crystal is, in many cases,advantageous from the standpoint of cost or from the standpoint of thereduction in the DC voltage applied across the crystal. This is so inspite of the additional optical losses suffered by multiple passesthrough the window/crystal/window assembly; assuming that one does notincrease d appreciably in order to utilize the multiple pass approach.

FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C illustrate some multiple pass configurations in aside view format. FIG. 26A illustrates a double pass configuration witha high reflection coating 150 b deposited on the outer surface of theZnSe window 150 furthest from the gain medium 726. The ZnSe window 148closest to the laser gain medium 726 is coated with an anti-reflectioncoating 148 a. If d remains the same as in the single pass configurationof FIGS. 24A, 24B, 25A and 25B, then one has the choice of reducing l by½ so that a shorter crystal is utilized, or, if l remains the same, asin the above single pass configurations, then the double passconfiguration of FIGS. 26A and 26B reduces the voltage, V_(o), by ½ forthe same phase retardation. By this process one can reduce the voltageby ⅓ for the triple pass configuration of FIG. 26C.

FIG. 26B illustrates another version of the double pass EO modulator140. This version utilizes a ZnSe prism 182 replacing the ZnSe window150 and the reflecting coatings 150 b thereon shown in FIG. 26A. Thedouble pass versions require ½ V_(o) of Eq. 1 to be applied to the EOcrystal 142 for an 180 degree phase retardation, whereas the triple passversion of FIG. 26C requires ⅓ V_(o) to be applied; assuming the d/lratio of the EO crystal 142 is maintained constant. For a 90 degreephase retardation, the voltages required are ¼V_(o) for a double passand ⅙V_(o) for a triple pass arrangement of the crystal 142.

The inclusions of the TFP 404 and the RPR 410 optical components arealso indicated in FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C. The ¼λ plate 412 of FIGS. 24Aand 24B or other polarization retardation devices can also be used inplace of the RPR devices 410.

Automatic Down Delay Circuit

FIG. 27 illustrates the experimental operation of a RF CW pumpedQ-switched laser system. The square shaped waveform 342 is the highvoltage pulse applied to the CdTe EO crystal 142 by the switchingcircuit 206 of FIGS. 13 and 18. The pulse-like waveform 344 of FIG. 27is the Q-switched output pulse of the laser displaying a long tail 344a. The horizontal scale is 250 nsec per major division. Both waveformsare bandwidth limited in this figure. The peak voltage of the highvoltage pulse 342 applied to the CdTe EO crystal 142 is 2.7 kV and itswidth is approximately 1.5 microsec. Approximately 500 nsec after thisvoltage is applied to the EO crystal 142, laser action is initiated. Theaverage power of the Q-switched output pulse 344 of the laser, at a 20kHz pulse repitition frequency (PRF) for the voltage pulse applied tothe crystal 142, and with a long tail, is approximately 15 W for 110nsec wide pulses. This yields about 6.8 kW of peak power per pulse (15W÷(110×10⁻⁹ sec×2×10⁴ Hz)). The energy per pulse is approximately ¾ mJ.Notice that the pulse 342 extends out to beyond 1 microsecond because ofthe long tail 344 a. This tail 344 a contains appreciable energy whichcan circumvent the advantages of using short laser pulses to drill holesor mark or encode stressed glass containers or surfaces, or to perforateor drill small holes in paper or plastic. Notice also that when the highvoltage 344 applied to the EO modulator crystal 142 goes to zero thelaser pulse 344 is clipped or truncated at 344 b. At 20 kHz, and withtail clipping such that little or no pulse tail occurs, the averagelaser power experimentally obtained was 10 W with pulse energies ofapproximately 0.5 mJ per pulse.

A function of the Automatic Down Delay Circuit (ADDC) 306 of FIGS. 13and 18 is to realize the full benefit of short Q-switched laser pulsesin material processing applications, such as drilling, by truncating thelong tails 344 a of the Q-switched laser pulses. In the simultaneouslyQ-switched cavity dumped arrangement, the ADDC is used to remove thevoltage from the EOM, thereby dunping the radiation out of the laserfeedback cavity as previously described in FIGS. 5, 7, 8, 12, 13 and 18.In the cavity dumped mode arrangement a long tail does not occur. Thisprevents unnecessary heating of the material during processing, such ashole drilling. The use of Q-switched pulses with tail clipping has notbeen previously utilized in industrial material processing applicationssuch as via hole drilling of printed circuit boards.

One method by which to clip or truncate the tail of the laser pulses 344in the laser system of FIGS. 13 and 18 is depicted by FIG. 28. FIG. 28follows the data shown in FIG. 27. The width of the high voltage pulse342 applied to the EO crystal 142 is preselected or adjusted at a setvalue so as to obtain approximately the desired amount of tail clippingof the long tail Q-switched laser pulse 344. This is accomplished whenthe switching circuit 206 turns off the pulse 342. The turning off ofthe high voltage pulse 342, causes the laser to transition from a lowloss state to a high loss state, thereby causing laser oscillation tocease. By preselecting or adjusting the width of the high voltage pulse344, the amount of tail clipping can be preselected or varied asdesired, yielding a laser shape and pulse width (LPW) at the half powerpoints as shown in FIG. 28. FIG. 31 again shows the tail clipping thatcan be accomplished with the ADDC circuit in a Q-switched laser. It isapparent from FIG. 28 that if the clipping occurs at the peak of theQ-switched pulse, then the front end of the pulse stored within thelaser cavity is available to be dumped out of the cavity in a time equalto the round trip time light propagates within the cavity of the systemsillustrated in FIGS. 13 and 18.

For some applications this Q-switched pulse width preselection oradjustment approach may not be suitable because of the variation thatcan occur in the laser oscillation build time (BT), which generates theQ-switched pulse 344, and pulse rise time (PRT). BT is the time requiredfor the Q-switched pulse 344 to build up out of spontaneous emissionafter the laser has transitioned from a high loss state to a low lossstate by the application of the high voltage pulse 344 to the EO crystal142. The laser pulse rise time (PRT) and the laser buildup time (BT) canvary primarily due to gain changes that can occur within the lasermedium. This can be caused by the aging of the laser, variations in thetemperature of the laser head 400, varying the pulse repetition rate,loss changes within the laser feedback cavity 406, 408, the amount ofapplied RF power 716 driving the laser head 400 because of power linevariations, and in the variation in the polarization of the laserradiation 402 caused by changes in the EO modulator 140. All of theseeffects will cause a variation in the amount of laser pulse tailclipping that will occur when utilizing the preselected high voltagepulse width approach. The largest variation will occur when the pulserepetition rate of the laser is changed.

Another method of tail clipping in Q-switched lasers is illustrated byFIGS. 29A and 29B. This laser pulse tail clipping approach offers lessvariation in pulse length with changes in laser gains and/or pulserepetition rate. This approach can be utilized in the laser systemsdepicted in FIGS. 13 and 18 for industrial material processingapplications.

In the ADDC of FIG. 29A, radiation 402 c emitted by either mirror 414 inFIG. 13 or FBM 408 of FIG. 18 is detected by an optical detector 302such as a pyro-detector. An output electrical signal 304 of the detector302 is applied to the input of one or more cascaded preamplifiers 310.The output signal 312 from the preamplifier 310 is applied to one inputterminal 314 a of a voltage comparator 314. An adjustable DC bias 318,320 is applied to the other input terminal 314 b of the voltagecomparator 314. When the pulsed signal 312 from the preamplifier 310exceeds the voltage bias level 320, the voltage comparator 314 providesan output signal 316 to a programmable timer 324. Programmable gatearrays can be configured to perform the programmable timing or countingfunction of the timer 324. Provision is made at 324 a to allow the laseroperator to manually provide the appropriate time delay, τ_(pc), of theprogrammable timer 324, thereby enabling the laser operator to selecthow much of the Q-switched tail 344 a is clipped. After the selectedtime delay, τ_(pc), the programmable timer 324 emits a signal 308 to thepulse receiver 202 or the switching circuit 206 of FIGS. 13 and 18. Thisturns off the high voltage 342 applied to the EO crystal 142 therebytransitioning the laser from a low loss state to a high loss state andcausing the laser action to cease.

Since the beginning of the sequence for issuing the signal 308 to clipthe tail 344 a of the Q-switched pulse 344 is started by detecting theQ-switched pulse itself and not by the beginning of the high voltagepulse 342 as in FIG. 28, the approach of FIG. 29A is not sensitive tothe laser oscillation build up time (BT) of FIG. 28 and thereforeprovides a better control of the laser pulse width (LPW).

As illustrated in FIG. 29B, as the Q-switched pulse rise time and/orQ-switched pulse amplitude changes, shown at 326 a, 326 b and 326 c,there is some variation in the time at which the timer 324 startsrunning because of changes in the laser pulse rise time (PRT). Changesin the laser pulse rise time and amplitude will occur because of thesame reasons given above. This approach will cause a much smallervariation in the laser pulse width (LPW) than the approach of FIG. 28.

If the LPW variation provided by the approach of FIGS. 29A and 29B stillcannot be tolerated in the application of interest, a third method oftail clipping is illustrated by FIGS. 30A and 30B. In FIG. 30A, thecomparator 314 issues a signal 316 at a pre-selected position on theQ-switched pulse. Examples of possible pre-selected pulse positions areat 50% of the pulse rise time or at the peak of the pulse. In FIG. 30A,a detector 302 is used to detect the Q-switched pulse 402 c. Theelectrical output signal 304 of the detector 302 is provided to one ormore cascaded preamplifiers 310. The output signal 312 of thepreamplifier 310 is split in two signals 312 a, 312 b. One signal 312 ais propagated through a time delay, τ₁ device 328, which yields a signalS₁ 330 as shown. Signal S₁ has the pulse shape shown at 340 a in FIG.30B. The time delay, τ_(s), of up to about 60 nsec was found to beadequate. The other signal 312 b is propagated through an attenuator336, which provides a signal S2338 as shown. Signal S₂ has the pulseshape shown at 340 b in FIG. 30B. Signal S₁ along with a negative DCbias voltage 334 is applied to one input terminal 314 a of the voltagecomparator 314. Signal S₂ is applied to the other input terminal 314 bof the comparator 314. When the value of signal S₁ equals the value ofthe signal S₂ (340 c of FIG. 30B), the voltage comparator 314 issues asignal 316 to the timer 324. After the time delay, τ_(pc), at 324 a, theprogrammable timer 324 issues the signal 308 to the pulse receiver 202or switching circuit 206 of FIGS. 13 and 18 to turn off the high voltage342 being applied to the EO modulator 140 of FIGS. 13 and 18. Theturning off of the high voltage 342 applied to the EO modulator 140causes the laser cavity to transition from a low loss state to a highloss state, thereby stopping the laser action and clipping theQ-switched laser pulse tail 344 a. The amount of the tail clipped isdetermined by the time, τ_(pc), applied to the programmable timer 324 at324 a by the operator of the laser system. Currently, none of thesepulse tail clipping approaches have been used in material processingapplications. FIG. 311B illustrates the relationship of the signals S1and S2 provided to the voltage comparator 314.

FIGS. 31A and 31B illustrate typical Q-switched pulses utilizing theADDC 306 of FIG. 30A. The data is not bandwidth limited. The data wastaken with a HgCdTe detector (not shown) at the output of the laserhousing 102 of FIG. 13 or 18. FIG. 31A shows an approximately 1.1microsecond pulse length at the baseline including the long tail. Bydecreasing the value of the delay, τ_(pc), in the programmable timer, ashort pulse tail 344 b is obtained as illustrated in FIG. 31B. In thiscase, the total Q-switched pulse width at the baseline is now about 450nsec. The Q-switched pulse width at the half power points of the pulseis 100 nsec for both cases. The data in FIGS. 31A and 31B was taken at aPRF of 20 kHz for the voltage 342 applied to the electro-optic crystal142.

In the housing arrangement for the ADDC 306, high electromagneticinterference (EMI) immunity is desired because of the closeness of thenearby high voltage pulse circuitry required to drive the EO crystal142. The EMI immunity is obtained by inserting the detector 302 and therest of the ADDC circuitry 306 within a tightly sealed metal housing 346and its cover 348 and making exceptionally good electrical contact tothe covers and electrical connectors that enclose the circuitry 306within the metal housing 346 and its cover 348.

FIGS. 32A and 32B present a side and end views that illustrate where theADDC 306 components are placed within the metal housing 346. In FIG.32A, item 348 is the top metal cover and item 356 is the rear metalcover. These are tightly bolted onto the metal housing 346 with goodelectrical contact gaskets (not shown) between the covers 348, 356 andthe housing 346 to eliminate spurious electrical signals from gettinginto or out of the housing 346. Item 350 is a DC to DC converter toconvert 28 volts DC from the controller 104 to the appropriate DCvoltage value to power all the circuits of the ADDC 306. The DC to DCconverter 350 is placed on the signal processing printed circuit board352. This printed circuit board 352 contains the programmable gatearrays and associated components comprising the programmable timer 324.Item 354 is an electrical connector that provides electrical signalaccess into and out of the laser housing 102. The Q-switched laser pulsetail-clipping signal 308 from the ADDC 306 is delivered to the pulsereceiver 202 through this EMI protected connector 354. Item 358 is theprinted circuit board that contains the preamplifiers 310, the timedelay, τ_(s), 328 the attenuator 336, the DC bias 332 and the voltagecomparator 314 circuits illustrated in FIGS. 29A and 30A. Item 360 is abottom height adjustment plate. Item 302 is the optical detector whichcan be a pyro-electric detector as illustrated in FIGS. 29A and 30A.Item 364 is an optical diffuser to ensure uniform illumination of thepyro-detector 302. Item 364 is inserted into a separate opticalcomponent barrel housing 372 which fits into the main ADDC housing 346.Inserted in the optical component barrel housing 372 is an aperture 370,an optical attenuator 368 and a beam-concentrating lens 366. Items 368,346 and 364 are inserted only if needed. Item 374 is a BNC coaxialconnector, which provides an output signal from the detector 302 so thatone can monitor the Q-switched laser pulse 344 outside the ADDC assemblyhousing 346.

High Voltage EO Crystal Electronics Design

FIGS. 33A–33D illustrate the operation sequence of the high voltageswitching circuit 206 for the EO crystal 142 of FIGS. 13, 18, 19, 20 and21. FIGS. 33A–133D show the relative timing relationships between thewaveform signals to command the charging 214 of the EOM 140, todischarge 216 the EOM 140, the high voltage 218 applied to the EOM 140and the resultant Q-switched pulse 344 emitted by the laser. Thefundamental operation of the high voltage switching circuit 206 isillustrated in FIG. 34 with cross-reference to FIGS. 33A–33D. During theperiod of time denoted by “ta” in FIGS. 33A–33D, there is no signalapplied by the high voltage switching circuit 206 to the EOM of FIGS. 13and 18. Consequently, in FIG. 34 the charging switch 220 and thedischarging switch 222 are both open and the EOM 140 is not charged-up(i.e. no voltage is applied to the EOM 140). When a signal 214 tocharge-up the capacitance of the EOM 140 is provided by the systemcontroller 104 of FIGS. 13 and 18, charging switch Sc 220 in FIG. 34( b)is closed at time “t_(b)” thereby permitting the capacitance of the EOM140 to be charged up to the full high voltage value available from theHV switching circuit 206 of FIGS. 13 and 18. After approximately 100nsec, signal 214 to charge the EOM 140 is turned off at time “t_(c).”The EOM 140 is fully charged and switch 220 is opened as illustrated at“t_(c)” in FIG. 34( c). The laser is now in a low cavity loss conditionand laser oscillation is initiated and begins to build up within thelaser cavity. The laser radiation is contained within the cavity becauseof the high reflectivity of the end mirrors 406, 408 of FIGS. 24, 18, 5and 3. After the cavity build-up time (i.e. CBT of FIG. 33D) theQ-switched laser pulse 344 begins to build up within the laser cavity asshown. At approximately the peak of the internally trapped laser pulseat time “t_(d)”, the signal 308 from the ADDC 306 of FIG. 13 or 18 orFIG. 8A, discharges the EOM 140 by closing switch 222 as shown at“t_(d)” in FIG. 34( d). This action converts the cavity to a high lossstate and dumps the radiation out of the cavity. After approximately 100nsec, signal 216 to discharge the EOM 140 is turned off and switch 222is opened at time “t_(e),” thereby leaving the high voltage switch 206as in FIG. 34( e), which is the same as in the original state during thetime “t_(a).”

FIG. 35 illustrates the electronic implementation of FIG. 34. The highvoltage pulse switching circuit 206 operates in conjunction with theAutomatic Down Delay Circuit (ADDC) 306 of FIG. 8A to generate the highvoltage waveform required for driving the EO modulator crystal 142 toproduce the Q-switched laser pulse 344 within the laser cavity. The highvoltage pulsed signal generation system 200 of FIGS. 13 and 18 includesa high voltage DC power supply 208 and the high voltage switchingcircuit 206 as shown in detail in FIG. 35. The HV switching circuit 206accepts either a pulsed signal 214 to charge the EO modulator 140 or apulsed signal 216 from the ADDC 306 to discharge the EO modulator 140.

The pulsed signal 214 to charge the EO modulator 140 initiates a chargecycle, which applies high voltage to the EO modulator crystal 142 asdepicted in time “t_(b)” of FIGS. 33A–33D. The pulsed signal 216 todischarge the EO modulator 140 initiates a discharge cycle where the EOmodulator voltage is returned to zero as depicted in time “t_(d)” ofFIGS. 33A–33D.

In order to produce fast high voltage pulse rise times of less thanabout 10 ns, the design of the high voltage pulse switch 206 requirescareful attention in minimizing parasitic capacitance and inductancewhile still providing the necessary high voltage insulation to preventelectrical arcing. In addition, reducing parasitic capacitance resultsin lower power dissipation, which significantly effects the thermalmanagement and ultimately overall size of the high voltage switchingcircuit 206.

The desirable features for the high voltage switching circuit 206driving the EO crystals 142 are: 1) reliable high voltage operation in asmall size and at high PRFs, 2) low parasitic capacitance for fastpulses rise times and reduced power dissipation, 3) low propagationdelay to allow Q-switched or cavity dumped operation and 4) the abilityto adjust the optical pulse amplitude by varying the high voltage pulseamplitude.

To achieve the above performance, the high voltage switching circuit 206is constructed using a plurality of high voltage power MOSFETs 224, 226of FIG. 35 for charging and discharging the EO crystal 142. The highvoltage power MOSFETS 224, 226 fulfill the functions of the mechanicalswitches 220, 222 of FIG. 34. The switching MOSFETs 224, 226 areselected for their high operating speeds and avalanche high energycapabilities. The high speed characteristic is used to generate fasthigh voltage pulses while the latter characteristic is used to obtainreliable, fault tolerant operation. For example, MOSFET's such asPhilips Electronics BUK 456 are suitable for this application. Drive forthe charging MOSFET switches 224 is provided by a series arrangement ofn_(c) wideband pulse transformers 228. These transformers 228 areconstructed on toroidal ferrite cores 228 a using high voltage wire andpotting compounds to obtain the required high voltage insulation. FIG.35 illustrates a plurality of n_(c) step down pulsed transformers 228with a n:1 ratio such as 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 in order to obtain currentgain. When a “charge” pulsed signal 214 is applied to the pulsegeneration switching circuit 206 through the amplifier/control circuit206 a, these transformers 228 provide a positive signal to the gate (G)and a negative signal to the source (S) connectors of each of the n_(c)charging MOSFETs 224. This causes current to flow from the high voltageDC power supply 208 through the drain (D) to the source (S) of each ofthe MOSFETs 224 then through the resistor 232 and on to the EO crystal142. The number of charging MOSFET switches 224 used in the circuit 206is determined by the voltage rating of the MOSFETs 224 divided into themaximum voltage applied to the EO crystal 142 plus a factor to ensurehigh reliability. For a voltage of 4 kV, five to six MOSFSETs of thePhilips BUK 456 variety appears to suffice. When the charge pulse signal214 goes to zero, the MOSFETs 224 are turned off as illustrated at time“t_(c)” of FIGS. 33A–33D and 34 and the EO modulator 140 maintains itscharge until it is commanded to discharge by signal 216.

When the discharge pulse signal 216 is applied to the high voltagegeneration switching circuit 206 through the amplifier/control circuit206 a, a pulsed signal 216 is applied to each of the nd step downtransformers 230 which in turn applies a turn on signal across the Gate(G) and Source (S) connections of each of the “n_(d)” discharge MOSFETs226. This enables current to discharge from the EO modulator crystal 142through each of the “n_(d)” discharge MOSFETs 226 to ground asschematically illustrated at time “t_(d)” of FIGS. 33A–33D and 26. Whenthe discharge signal 216 goes to zero, the MOSFETs 226 are turned offand the status of the switching circuit 206 is as depicted at time“t_(e)” of FIGS. 33A–33D and 26.

An impedance, Z_(n), 234 can be connected across each of the n_(c)charging MOSFETs 224 to provide a voltage balance across the MOSFETs224. The resistive part of the impedance 234 across each of the chargingMOSFETs 224 can typically each have a 10 megaohm value to balance the DCbetween each of the charging MOSFETs 224. If the avalanche properties ofthe charging MOSFET 224 present a problem then a capacitor across eachof the resistors can be used. The value of the required capacitanceacross each of the charging MOSFETs 224, needs to be different. Thecapacitors are also a balance for the AC portion of the charging signals214. From a cost standpoint the capacitor can be done away with if thecharging MOSFETs 224 are selected not to be sensitive to avalanchingproblems.

Resistors 236 (typically 150 kilo ohms) are used to ensure DC balancingduring the EO modulator 140 discharge portion of the cycle. The chargingresistor 232 in FIG. 35 serves the purpose of minimizing crossconduction problems between the charging and discharging portion of thecircuits.

Discussed above are the basic elements of this high voltage switchingcircuit 206. Variations upon these basic elements are possible to thoseversed in the fast electronic circuits state of the art. For example, asingle transformer with multiple secondary windings can be used to drivethe MOSFETs instead of individual cores as shown in FIG. 35. Positivefeedback windings can also be added to produce faster pulse transitions.Various opto-isolated gate drive techniques could also be applied.Active off drive of the non-conduction MOSFETs can also be employedwhich allows this isolation resistor to be minimized or eliminated.Resonant charging techniques can also be used to reduce powerconsumption.

The high voltage pulse output from the high voltage switching circuit206 may be varied in order to obtain a desired output optical power fromthe Q-switched laser pulse 344. This can be accomplished by varying theoutput voltage of the high voltage power supply 208 in either an open orclosed electrical loop fashion. In addition, the ADDC circuit 306 allowsextended variability in the output optical pulse width therebypermitting pulse energy variation on a pulse-to-pulse basis.

The pulse receiver 202, the high voltage DC supply 208 and the highvoltage switching circuit 206 of FIGS. 5, 13 and 18 are packaged in ametal housing 236 as illustrated in FIG. 36. Because of EMIconsiderations, careful attention is given to preventing electromagneticradiation from either leaking out of or into the metal-housing bytechniques well known in the art. Item 238 is a cover for the housing236. Items 240 and 242 are heat sinks for the high voltage switchingcircuit printed circuit board. Item 202 is the printed circuit boardcontaining the pulse receiver. Item 244 is a filter capacitor and item246 is the box containing the high voltage DC power supply 208 such asan Ultra volt Model 4° C. 24-P60. Item 250 is the input/outputelectrical connector and Item 252 is the end plate.

Automatic Stop Drilling (ASD) Module

An attractive addition to a via hole laser drilling system that usesrepetitive laser pulses, such as a Q-switched and simultaneouslyQ-switched cavity dumped laser, an acousto-optic gated cell, a gated orsuper pulsed laser, or a TEA laser, is an automatic stop drilling (orstop processing) system operative to direct the laser to stop drillingoperations, thus, stopping the process when a reflective surface, suchas copper or other metal, is reached in the drilling processing. Such astop drilling feature also detects back reflection radiation from theworkpiece and blocks it from coupling back into the laser cavity,thereby damaging the optics therein. For example, an automatic stopdrilling (ASD) (e.g., an automatic stop laser operation) system mayutilize the large back reflectance from copper or other metals when thelaser has drilled through a dielectric material in a printed circuitboard. The detection of the signal from the back reflected radiationprovides a signal to the laser to stop pulsing at that location on awork piece and to start pulsing again after the laser beam has beenmoved to another spot on the work piece. Such an ASD system preventswasted time thereby increasing the throughput of the via hole drillingsystem and also provides protection to the laser from back reflectedradiation entering and building up within the laser cavity. FIG. 37illustrates a schematic of an ASD system 500 that can be connected toeither a Q-switched or simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laserhousing 102 of FIG. 18.

FIG. 37 illustrates one method of implementing such an ASD system. Italso illustrates, as an example, how a pulsed via hole drilling laserhas drilled through a work piece 548. As an example, the work piece 548,such as a printed circuit board, has four dielectric layers 536, 540,542, 546, one opened copper interconnect 538 and a second copperinterconnect 544 from which a strong back reflected signal is detected.The polarized pulsed laser beam is directed onto the work piece by theRPR 506 and a focusing lens 508. The pulsed laser beam drills throughthe first dielectric layer 536, past the opened copper interconnect, 538and through dielectric layers 540 and 542 until the laser beam 402 isstopped by copper interconnect line 544. Once the copper interconnectline 544 is reached a large amount of radiation is reflected back out ofthe via hole 550 toward the focusing lens 508 and back toward the laser.The ASD system 500 detects this back-reflected radiation and generates asignal to automatically stop the laser from continuing to pulse at thislocation. The laser re-initiates pulsing and therefore drilling actionagain after it is moved to a new location and commanded to restartpulsing.

The ASD system 500 functions as follows. The laser pulse 402 from thesimultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser is polarized in the planeof the paper as shown at 560 in FIG. 37. The laser pulse 402 passesthrough TFP 114 which is part of the laser housing 102 of FIGS. 13 and18. TFP 114 then passes that radiation 560 a polarized perpendicular tothe plane of the paper with little loss, and reflects out otherpolarization components 560 b of the radiation. The same occurs for TFP504. Consequently, by rotating the TFP 504, one can vary the attenuationof the laser beam propagating onto the work piece 548. This is a manualoption that can be incorporated into the laser housing 102 if a manualattenuation adjustment module is desired instead of adjusting thevoltage applied to the EO crystal 142 as previously described either ina closed loop format or by manually adjusting a variable resistor 212 ofFIGS. 13 and 18. The two TFPs 114, 504 are positioned as indicated (i.e.tipped toward each other) in order to maintain a straight-line alignmentfrom the laser head 400 to the RPR 506. If the option for such a manualattenuation beam adjustment is not selected, then only TFP 114 isrequired in FIG. 37. In either case, TFP 114 is used to pass theradiation onto RPR 506, onto the focusing lens 508 and then onto thework piece 548. The RPR 506 converts the polarization 560 a that isperpendicular to the plane of the paper into a circularly polarized beam560 c so that when the circularly polarized radiation 562 a is reflected562 from the work piece 548 is again reflected by the RPR 506, theradiation is translated into radiation 562 b whose polarization isparallel to the plane of the paper. This polarization is reflected bythe TFP 504 as shown. This action provides protection to the laser fromback reflected radiation from the workpiece. The radiation reflectedfrom TFP 504 is detected by a suitable detector 510, such as apyro-electric detector.

The electrical signal 512 from the detector 510 is applied to apreamplifier 514 and then to one input 516 a of a voltage comparator516. A variable DC bias 520, 522 is applied to the second input 516 b.In order to avoid false alarms, the bias voltage 522 is adjusted to ahigh enough voltage so as to have the voltage comparator 516 emit anoutput signal 524 only on strong back-reflected signals arising from themetal reflection and not from the much weaker reflection from thedielectric. The output signal 524 emitted by the voltage comparator 516is larger than the bias voltage 522. The electrical signal from thevoltage comparator 524 is used to inform the system controller 102 thata “stop laser pulsing” command has been sent to the EO modulatorswitching circuit 206. This action provides additional protection frothe laser from back reflected radiation. This allows the systemcontroller 102 to move the laser beam to another spot and reinitiatedrilling action. The signal from the voltage comparator 516 is alsoapplied to an inverter 526 and then to a logic AND gate 532. The ANDgate 532 supplies a “stop drilling” signal 534 to the pulse receiver202, which insures that no voltage is applied to the EO crystal 142, ifthe signal 528 from the inverter 526 and a command pulse 530 from thepulse receiver 202 both applied to the AND gate 532.

The Automatic Stop Drilling System 500 of FIG. 37 operates as follows.If the drilling operation has not reached the second copper interconnectline 544, then there is no back reflected signal detected at thedetector 510. As a consequence there is no input signal 512 provided tothe comparator 516, nor signal output 524 from the comparator 516, i.e.,the output 524 of the comparator 516 is at a “logic low.” However, ifthe drilling operation has not reached the second copper interconnectline 544, the laser system 100 must continue drilling. In order for thelaser system 100 to continue drilling, there must be an input 528 to thelogical AND gate 532 so that the AND gate 532 can provide an outputsignal 534. This can occur because the inverter 526 converts the “logiclow” of signal 524 to a “logic high” 528. Thus, the inverter 526converts a “logic low” 524 to a “logic high” 528. The AND gate 532logically ANDs the “logic high” of signal 528 with the “logic high” ofsignal 530 and the output 534 of the AND gate 532 directs the lasersystem 100 to continue drilling. If the drilling operation has reachedthe second copper interconnect line 544, then there is a large backreflected signal detected by the detector 510. As a consequence,there-is an input signal 512 provided to the comparator 516 through thepreamplifier 514 and an output signal 524 from the comparator 516, i.e.,the output signal 524 of the comparator 516 is now at a “logic high.”However, if the drilling operation has reached the second copperinterconnect line 544, the laser system 100 must discontinue drilling.In order for the laser system 100 to discontinue drilling, the output534 of the logical AND gate 532 must be a “logic low.” Thus, theinverter 526 converts a “logic high” 524 to a “logic low” 528. The ANDgate 532 logically ANDs the “logic low” of signal 528 with the “logichigh” of signal 530 and the lack-of an output signal 534 from the ANDgate 532 results in no signal to the pulse receiver so that no voltageis provided to the EOM crystal 142, thereby directing the laser system100 to discontinue drilling.

Simultaneously Super-Pulsed Q-Switched and Cavity Dumped Laser Operation

In FIG. 38A pulse formats 1 and II summarize the various straightforward, commonly used CO₂ laser pulse techniques, such as CW modulatedor pulsed gated operations and super-pulsed operation that are presentlyused to drill or perforate materials. Format 1 generates peak powerpulses equal to the CW power where the super-pulsed (II) can generatepeak powers of approximately twice the CW powers for an RF pulsed powerduty cycle of approximately one half and with pulse widths down to a fewmicroseconds. Pulse formats III through VI of FIG. 38A illustrate theshorter pulse, higher peak power approaches of Q-switched andsimultaneously super-pulsed and Q-switched. The advantages arising fromthe use of short, high peak power, high repetition rate CO₂ laser pulsesin material processing applications are well recognized. As laser pulsesbecome shorter one obtains cleaner holes and the drilling process isconducted more efficiently with minimum adverse thermal effects on thematerial. Even though the energy per pulse is lower, the higher peakpower and high pulse repetition obtained with Q-switched and cavitydumping techniques increase the speed of the drilling process.Consequently, it is believed that the pulsing formats of VIsimultaneously super-pulsed Q-switched and cavity dumped format, and Vsimultaneously Q-switched and cavity dumped format in FIG. 38A arebetter than IV and III in drilling via holes (where pulse width forpulsing formats VI and V are 10 to 20 nsec long). The higher peak powersand shorter pulses of format VI over format V make it superior formaterial processing applications.

Pulse formats IV and III, where the Q-switched approach provides pulsewidths of about 0.1 μsec to 0.2 μsecs, are better than pulse format II.The high repetition rate gain switch approach of pulse format II yieldspulse widths of one to tens of microseconds. Pulse format II is betterthan pulse format I. The pulse gated format 1 is the normal laserpulsing condition. It yields pulses of a few microseconds duration forCW operation. The disadvantage of the smaller energy per pulseassociated with shorter pulses when compared with the wider pulses ismade up by the higher repetition rate and higher peak power of theshorter pulses which expel the material out of the via hole beingdrilled by the laser pulses. This results in better-defined, smallerdiameter and smoother via or perforation holes. Which of the formatsshown in FIG. 38A is chosen depends on the trade off between the cost ofthe laser, the speed of the drilling process and the quality of theholes drilled.

FIG. 38A illustrates the higher peak power advantages realized inoperating a laser in a simultaneous super pulsed and Q-switched mode andalso in a simultaneous super pulsed, Q-switched cavity dumped mode.Advantages include higher peak power, higher energy per pulse, andfaster laser pulse rise time outputs for the same average RF power 606supplied to the laser head 400 at 716. The higher RF drive power alsoenables CO₂ lasers to operate at higher gas pressures which can yieldhigher energy per output pulse over non-super pulsed operation. FIG. 38Billustrates the simultaneously super pulsed operation at a duty cycle ofone half for Q-switched and cavity dumped waveforms. In particular, FIG.38B shows the RF peak pulse (P_(RFP)) 602 applied to the CO₂ gain medium726 (at 716 in FIGS. 13 and 18), the high voltage pulse 604 applied tothe EO crystal 142, the maximum average RF power (i.e., continuous waveradio frequency power 606 (P_(RFCW))) that can be applied to the lasergain medium 726 and the resultant Q-switched laser output pulse 344, andtheir respective timing relationship with each other at a duty cycle ofapproximately 50%. In this example, one simultaneously Q-switched cavitydumped pulse 344 is generated per super RF pulse 602 exciting the CO₂laser discharge (gain medium 726).

The laser drilling system operator determines the laser's super pulsedrepetition frequency, P_(RF), and the duty cycle η. FIG. 38B illustratesthe condition where the peak power of the RF pulse (P_(RFP)) 602 isabout twice the average RF power capability of the power supply(P_(RFCW)) 606. This is typical for a duty cycle of 50%. The highvoltage 604 applied to the EO crystal 142 is selected to provide a90-degree polarization rotation as described for FIGS. 24A–25B, 13 and18. The high voltage 604 applied to the EO crystal 142 is turned on,after allowing time, PBT, to elapse in order for the gain to rise for anoptimum time, which is about one to two population decay times, τ_(d),of the upper laser level. This time is denoted as the populationbuild-up time (PBT) in FIG. 381B. The high voltage 604 causes the lasercavity 406, 408 to switch from a high loss state to a low loss statethereby allowing laser action to take place. This results in aQ-switched pulse radiation build up within the laser cavity. At the peakof this contained radiation buildup, the voltage 604 to the EOM isreduced to zero, which dumps the trapped radiation out of the cavity.The system operator determines the delay time PBT between the initiationof the RF super pumping pulse 602 and the initiation of the HV pulse 604applied to the crystal 142. This is done by inputting this informationthrough the keyboard of FIG. 3 into the system controller, whichprovides the desired electrical signal to the RS 422 pulse receiver 202and to the high voltage switch 206.

In FIG. 38B, T_(RF) is the pulse width of the super pulse RF power(P_(RFP)) 602, T_(HV) is the pulse width of the high voltage 604 appliedacross the EOM crystal 142, and T_(PRP) is the super pulse repetitionperiod. The duty cycle is defined as T_(RF)/T_(PRP) and the super pulsedrepetition frequency P_(RF)=¹/T_(PRP).

If the laser beam 402 is moved from one processing location (i.e. a via)to another processing location on the order of a millisecond or longer,then the super pulse operation can be performed at a much lower dutycycle. The lower duty cycle enables the application of higher RF pulsedpower 716 (i.e., 602 of FIG. 38B) to the laser discharge within thefolded waveguide 806 during the super pulse operation as well asenabling the use of higher gas pressure in the gain medium. They bothresult in obtaining higher laser pulse energies. As a general rule, theamount of power P_(RFP), applied to the gas laser discharge can beapproximately equal to P_(RFCW)/Duty cycle. As an example, for a dutycycle of ⅙, the power P_(RFP) can be up to 6×P_(RFCW). This enablesobtaining higher peak powers and energies per Q-switched pulse over theoperation illustrated in FIG. 38B. A low duty cycle super pulsed andQ-switched operation can operate in a single Q-switched pulse operationor in a multiple Q-switched pulse operation during a single super RFexcitation pulse 602 duration T_(RF).

Operation of a RF power low duty cycle, simultaneously repetitive superpulsed Q-switched cavity dumped laser during one super RF pulseexcitation of the gain medium 726 is schematically illustrated in FIG.39. Typical performance parameters obtained for a pulse excitation dutycycle of 0.14 to 0.17, P_(RFP)=4 kW to 5 kW and T_(RF)=50 μsec are 20 kWto 25 kW peak power for a single Q-switched laser pulse with an energyof 7 to 8 mJ per pulse. For P_(RFP)=4 kW to 5 kW, T_(RF)=100 μsec, andgenerating 10 Q-switched pulses during the excitation period T_(RF)=100μsec, the average energy for the 10 pulses was 30 mJ. This outputperformance repeats at a repetition frequency equal to ¹/T_(PRP). Theseresults were obtained with the laser system depicted in FIG. 13 or 18.The NV folded waveguide configuration 806 for the CO₂ laser head 400 isnormally specified as a 100 W output laser when operated continuously.

When the tails 344 a of the Q-switched pulse 344 are clipped as in FIG.31B, the energies normally present in the pulsed long tails 344 a ofFIG. 31A are not extracted from the laser discharge gain medium 726.Consequently, this non-emitted energy is saved and thus available forextraction in future Q-switched pulses 344, which follow in therepetitive Q-switching operation. The same occurs when the Q-switchedradiation contained within the feedback optical cavity is truncated anddumped out of the cavity. The energy which was to be emitted in the backside of the contained Q-switched pulse is saved and available for futureextraction. This makes it possible to obtain repetitive cavity dumpedoutput pulses from a laser with a long RF super pulse applied to the CO₂laser medium. With the tail clipped pulse width of FIG. 31B (i.e. 310nsec wide at the base of the pulse) and with T_(RF)=100 μsec, andassuming a cavity build-up time of 500 nsec, as many as 123 cavitydumped pulses can be repetitively obtained if one allows a 810 nsec timeinterval between the train of Q-switched pulses (i.e.100×10⁻⁶/810×10⁻⁹=123).

The output energies available from such a repetitive Q-switched cavitydumped pulse train during a super pulse excitation is sufficient todrill the most difficult plastic materials such as those impregnatedwith glass fibers (e.g., FR4 printed circuit board materials).

FIG. 39 schematically illustrates the operational events that occur forexample where P_(RFP)=7×P_(RFCW) and a RF pulse excitation 602, ofduration T_(RF), driving the laser discharge 726 with four repetitiveQ-switched pulses 344 occurring during T_(RF). After the populationbuild-up time (PBT) required to populate the upper laser level of thedischarge 726 under the P_(RFP) RF pulse power, high voltage is appliedto the EOM crystal 142 thereby turning the laser cavity 406, 408 from ahigh loss state to a low loss state. This in turn causes laser action tobegin and, after the cavity build-up time (CBT), a Q-switched laserpulse 344 rises rapidly to a peak value and is contained within thefeedback cavity. After a time duration T_(HV), the high voltage pulse604 applied to the EOM crystal 142 is turned off, thereby converting thelaser cavity 408, 408 from a low loss state to a high loss state. Thisin turns stops dumps the radiation out of the cavity. Switching thecavity to a high loss state stops the depopulation of the upper laserlevel, thereby enabling the population of the upper laser level to againbegin to build-up under the RF super pulse excitation 602 of thedischarge 726. FIG. 39 schematically illustrates obtaining four cavitydumped laser pulses from one super RF power pulse.

FIG. 40 illustrates four simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped pulses344 a at a 100 kHz PRF during one super RF pulse 602 excitation of thelaser discharge having a duration of approximately 60 μsec.

Laser pulse trains comprising repetitive short pulses contained within asingle super RF power pulse envelope are superior in drilling materialscompared to a single pulse. (Steve Maynard, Structured Pulses:Advantages in Percussion Drilling; Convergent Prima Newsletter, TheLaser's Edge, Vol. 11, Winier 2000, pg. 1–4, which is incorporatedherein by reference). These laser pulse trains can be repeated overtime. Such structured pulse trains are known to achieve higher drillingspeed, better hole taper control, better debris control, and enablefiner tuning or adjustment of the drilling process when the pulseamplitude is sequentially increased from the beginning to the end of thelaser pulse train. The use of electro-optic modulation to obtainrepetitive Q-switched and cavity dumped laser pulse trains can providethe flexibility to generate structured pulse trains for hole drillingapplications (see FIGS. 38A, 38B, 39 and 41 for repetitive pulse trainexamples). Additional examples are schematically illustrated in FIG.38A. They are CWRF pumped or gated laser pulses, super RF pulsed laserpulses (II), Q-switched pulse trains (III), super pulsed RF pumpedQ-switched pulse trains (IV), simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped(V), and simultaneously super pulsed Q-switched cavity dumped laserpulses (VI). By varying the amplitude of the high voltage 604 applied tothe EOM crystal 142 a convenient non-mechanical, and therefore fast,variation of the amplitudes of the individual Q-switched pulses can beobtained (FIG. 41). This requires an electronic control of the voltageoutput of the high voltage power supply 208 of FIG. 13 or 18. This willbe described later in this disclosure.

The first Q-switched cavity dumped laser pulse starting the drilling ofa hole does not require as much energy as the last Q-switched cavitydumped laser pulse. This is so because the last laser pulse is drillingdeeper within the material. A larger pulse energy is required fordrilling deeper within a material because it takes more laser energy tovaporize the material out of the hole. By sequentially increasing thelaser energy as the pulse train progresses, the surface debris can bebetter controlled and excessive tapering of the hole can be prevented.Drilling with a structured pulse train results in the ability to begindrilling with low energy per pulse, which causes little or no “bellmouthing” of the hole, and minimal debris splattering. Once below thesurface of the material, the energy of the pulses can be increasedincrementally as shown in FIG. 41 and the drilling process continueswith minimum tapering.

FIG. 41 schematically illustrates the events during the simultaneouslyRF gated super RF pulsed power and repetitive Q-switched cavity dumpedpulse train with progressively increasing laser pulse peak power under asingle RF super pulse excitation of the laser medium. FIG. 44illustrates the operation of a Q-switched cavity dumped laser in thismode of operation.

Another method of adjusting the output power of the laser is to providemeans for manually rotating TFP 504 of FIG. 37 about its center axisthus varying the amount of polarized laser radiation that can leave thelaser housing. This mechanical adjustment is slow and does not allow theadjustment of peak power from pulse to pulse, except for very slow pulserepetition rates.

Control of Output of Individual Q-switched Cavity Dumped Pulse PeakPower

By the use of the subsystem shown in FIG. 42, one can vary the peakpower or amplitude of the laser output pulse 344 by varying the voltage604 applied to the EO crystal 142 thereby not permitting a full90-degree polarization rotation of the radiation within the laser cavity406, 408. The voltage 604 applied to the EO crystal 142 can be changedby applying a signal to the high voltage power supply (HVPS) 208 tolower the voltage supplied to the high voltage switch which appliesvoltage to the EOM crystal 142 (see FIGS. 13 and 18). This can provide afast, prescribed variation in the output Q-switched peak power frompulse to pulse.

The output optical power from a laser is a relatively sensitive functionof the laser intra-cavity losses. As such, using a method that allowsthe intra-cavity losses to be adjusted would permit the user to vary thelaser output power in response to process demands. Since a Q-switchedand simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser utilizes an internalvariable optical loss modulator, such as the EOM 140, one method foraccomplishing this task is to control the amplitude of the high voltagepulse applied to the electro-optic modulator 140. One method of varyingthe pulse amplitude of the laser output is to adjust the output of a lowvoltage DC-to-AC-to-high voltage DC power converter power supply 266shown in FIG. 42. This drives the EOM crystal 142 through the HVswitching circuit 206 of FIGS. 13 and 18. In this approach, the operatorof the laser material processing system of FIG. 4 supplies a low voltageDC setpoint command 260 to a power supply controller 262 which thenadjusts the high voltage output 264 of the power converter 266 tominimize the difference between the output voltage 264 and the usersupplied setpoint 260 by way of the voltage divider 270. This isillustrated in the block diagram 208 of FIG. 42.

It should be noted that the power converter 266 can be a linearregulator, switching regulator, or a hybrid. In addition, in cases wherea free running power conversion stage is employed, the user setpoint 260can be used to adjust the input supply voltage 268, which feeds thepower converter 266. Since this approach adjusts the output 264 of thepower converter 266 in response to user supplied setpoint command 260the response time will be relatively slow, e.g., 10 kHz and lower. Thepower converter 266 plus the power supply controller 262 and the voltagedivider network 270 comprise the high voltage power supply (HVPS) 208 ofFIGS. 13 and 18.

The high voltage output 264 from the power converter 266 is applied tothe high voltage switching circuit 206 of FIGS. 13 and 18 which turnsthe high voltage radio signal 178 across the EOM modulator 140 on andoff as explained for FIGS. 13 and 18. The operation of the electronicsschematically illustrated by FIG. 42 enables one to vary the Q-switchedpulse 604 a amplitudes of each pulse within the pulse train asexemplified by FIG. 41. This variation in Q-switched pulse amplitudecontained within the laser feedback cavity will be replicated in theamplitude variation of the cavity dumped pulses emitted by the laser.

Control of the Output of Individual Simultaneously Q-Switched and CavityDumped Pulses within a Train with an Acousto-Optic Cell

An alternative method of varying the amplitude of individual Q-switchedor simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped laser pulses 344, within thetrain of pulses 604, 604 a in FIGS. 39 and 41, is to use an optical lossmodulator located external to the laser cavity 406, 408 of FIGS. 13 and18 in order to obtain low taper in holes drilled by the laser. FIG. 43schematically illustrates one approach by the use of an acousto-opticcell 272.

The Q-switched or simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped pulse train344 emitted by the laser is transmitted through an acousto-optic (AO)cell 272. Germanium (Ge) is a good AO cell material for CO₂ laserradiation but its transmission loss is too high for use inside the lasercavity. The higher optical loss and slower switching times of AO cellswhen compared with EO modulators does not recommend them forintra-cavity loss modulation applications in CO₂ lasers utilized inindustrial applications. Varying the RF signal 274 a applied to the AOcell 272, varies the strength of an optical phase grating 276 generatedwithin the Ge material. Such an optical phase grating 276 is generatedby the ultrasonic wave propagating through the Ge material as is wellknown in the art. The optical phase grating 276 diffracts laserradiation 278 at the Bragg angle, ψ, out of the laser radiation 402propagating through the AO cell 272. The Bragg angle, ψ, is determinedby the ratio of the laser wavelength to the ultrasonic wavelength as iswell known in the art. The higher the RF power 274 a applied to the AOcell 272, the greater the amount of radiation 278 diffracted out of thelaser beam 402 which is performing the drilling into a side order of theacoustically variable optical phase grating 276. This results inprogressively larger amplitudes of the Q-switched pulses 344 c, as seenat times t₁, t₂, t₃, and t₄. The diffracted laser beam is diverted ontoan optical absorber or stop 280.

By synchronizing the RF power 274 a applied to the AO cell 272, at aprescribed power level, to coincide with the arrival at 276 a of aprescribed Q-switched laser pulse 344 propagating through the AO cell272, one can vary the amplitude of each laser pulse 344 to a desiredlevel. Since there is a time delay, t_(o), necessary for the acousticradiation to travel to the point 276 a where the laser beam 402 passesthrough the AO cell 272, a comparable delay is induced in the signal 106applied to the pulse receive 202, so as to obtain synchronizationbetween the laser pulse train 344 and the RF power 274 a applied to theAO cell 272 as shown in FIG. 43. This results in the increasingamplitudes of the repetitive pulse train 344 c as time increases from t₁to t₂ to t₃ to t₄. The envelope of the RF power applied to the AO cell272 is shown at 282 in FIG. 43. As can be seen, at time t₁ the envelope282 of RF power is relatively high and the corresponding laser outputpulse 344 c at time t₁ is relatively small. However, as the magnitude ofthe envelope 282 diminishes at times t₂, t₃ and t₄, the correspondingamplitudes of the repetitive pulse train 344 c increase respectively.The envelope of the RF power applied to the AO cell 272 is shown at 282in FIG. 43. As can be seen, at time t₁ the envelope 282 of RF power isrelatively high so that it causes the corresponding laser output pulse344 c at time t₁ to be relatively small because of the large diffractionout of the laser pulse by the acoustic wave generated by the RF powerwhen the acoustic wave intersects the laser pulse in the AO cell.However, as the magnitude of the RF envelope 282 diminishes at times t₂,t₃ and t₄, the corresponding amplitudes of the Q-switched pulse train344 c increase respectively because of the smaller amount of diffractioncaused by the lower amplitude acoustic waves generated by the decreasingRF power envelope 282.

Control of Individual Q-Switched Cavity Dumped Pulse Peak Power byControl of Timing between the RF Super Pulse Exciting the Discharge andthe High Voltage Applied to the EOM

Another method for obtaining variable peak power in the laser outputpulse 344 as in FIG. 41 and the upper portion of FIG. 43 is to utilizethe fact that the gain of the laser medium 726 begins to increase up toa maximum value in a time T_(PBT) after the input power 602 (FIGS. 39and 41) energizing the laser is turned on. Consequently, the timingbetween the initiation of the input power 602 energizing the laser andthe switching of the laser cavity comprising mirrors 406, 408 from ahigh loss state to the low loss state (i.e. in the Q-switched case) andback again to a high loss state for the simultaneously Q-switched cavitydumped case will vary the peak power of an emitted laser pulse. If ashorter time is provided between the initiation of the laser pumpingenergy and the switching of the laser cavity 406, 408 from a high losscondition to a low loss condition, then the gain of the laser mediumwill not have peaked. Consequently the first pulse to be emitted willnot have as large a peak power as it could have. After the cavity dumpedpulse is emitted by the laser, the gain of the medium has dropped downto the value required to maintain CW oscillation for the cavity losscondition. The gain of the laser medium 726 then begins to build upagain when the cavity 406, 408 is switched to a high loss condition. Thetime required to exceed the laser gain at which the first laser pulsewas emitted is now shorter because the gain build up begins at a largerpopulation level than was the case for the first cavity dumped pulse. Ifone then again switches from the high loss condition to a low losscondition at a time so that the gain is higher then when the firstQ-switched pulse radiation contained within the cavity was emitted as acavity dumped pulse, then the second emitted laser pulse will have ahigher peak power than the first pulse. These events can continue for anumber of cavity dumped laser pulses, thereby obtaining the increasingpeak power of succeeding subsequent pulses until a maximum gaincondition is reached. The number of pulses capable of being emitted bythe laser is determined by the pumping intensity, the gain threshold ofthe laser, the time interval desired between the Q-switched pulses, thegas pressure of the laser, the cooling capability of the laser designand the amount of time delay between the initiation of the RF superpulse 602 pumping of the laser and the switching of the laser cavity406, 408 from a high loss state to a low loss state.

FIG. 44 illustrates the results when the RF super pulse 602 of FIG. 40is shortened from 60 microsecond to approximately 48 microseconds, thetime interval between pulses is maintained at approximately 10microseconds for both cases, and the time between switching from ahigh-cavity loss to a low cavity loss condition is shortened so that thefirst Q-switched cavity dumped pulse is emitted approximately 114microseconds after the initiation of 602 as indicated in FIG. 44. Notethat under these conditions, four Q-switched pulse are obtained witheach succeeding pulse increasing in amplitude. The advantage of thisapproach over that of FIGS. 41 and 43 is simplicity and cost. Thedisadvantage is the loss of flexibility.

For example, if the RF pumping super pulse 602 is increased to 72microseconds and the time interval between pulses and the initiation ofthe high loss to low loss optical cavity switch after the initiation ofthe RF super pulse pumping process remain essentially the same, then thenumber of output pulses 344 increases to 6 pulses but the peak power ofthe last two pulses are decreasing in peak power (see FIG. 45). Suchdrop off in the amplitude of the latter pulses is generally notdesirable in hole drilling operations. The time interval between pulsesis selected based on the optimum time for the material removal from thehole before the arrival of the next pulse on the material. Theapproaches of FIGS. 41 and 43 provide for greater freedom and thereforefor simpler optimization of the time interval between emitted laserpulses and more independent control of the peak power of the laserpulses. None-the-less, if the approach of FIG. 44 satisfies theapplication, it is lower in laser implementation cost.

The concept presented is described in terms of a CO₂ Q-switched andsimultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped lasers, but the principle isapplicable to other lasers such as semiconductor diode pumped or flashlamp pumped solid state laser such as YAG lasers also commonly used invia hole drilling.

Q-Switched/Cavity Dumped Laser with Amplifier Packaging

The apparatus and methods described herein above for FIGS. 13 through47B are utilized to realize a CW pumped Q-switched, cavity dumped CO₂laser with all the advantages these techniques provided to theQ-switched laser. These techniques can also be utilized to realize again switched (i.e. super pulsed), Q-switched, cavity dumped laser whileagain maintaining all the advantages available to the gain switched(i.e. super pulsed), Q-switched lasers described in FIGS. 38A and 38B.

The laser amplifier (FIG. 6) and the laser head packaging of FIGS. 14,48A, 48B, 48C can be utilized to obtain a Q-switched, cavity dumpedlaser in a comparable sized package as for the Q-switched laser.

In the simultaneously Q-switched cavity dumped case, the ADDC 306provides a signal 308 a directly to the HV switch 206 and not to theRS-422 pulse receiver, as may be done in the Q-switched operation, inorder to obtain the required fast switching time.

The ADDC approaches of FIGS. 28, 29A, 29B, 30A and 30B may be modifiedto make them function in a Q-switched, cavity dumped laser system. FIG.5 schematically illustrates the block diagram of either a RF CW pumped,a RF pulsed pumped, or a super RF pulsed pumped Q-switched, cavitydumped CO₂ laser system 100 with an optional multi-pass folded waveguideCO₂ laser amplifier mounted as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/566,547 entitled “A Method and Apparatus for Increasing the Powerof a Waveguide Laser” filed on May 8, 2000 and incorporated herein byreference. In the above referenced patent application, a technique wasutilized to couple two-gain medium into one laser oscillator. If one ormore amplifiers is needed to achieve desired pulse energy, then theapproach of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/566,547 can be used toobtain rugged, rigid, and small laser/amplifier packages suitable forindustrial applications. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/566,547,the technique was used to couple more than two laser gain media togetherto obtain one laser oscillator of higher power. The approach can be usedfor the oscillator/amplifier arrangement.

Laser amplifiers are the same as laser oscillators except that nofeedback mirrors are utilized in laser amplifiers. Instead of a totallyreflecting feedback mirror and a partially reflecting output mirror,laser amplifiers utilize transparent input and output windows 413 asseen FIG. 6. For CO₂ lasers, windows of ZnSe are suitable as well asother materials. The windows are fabricated with a small wedge angle inorder to eliminate frequency selective etalons effects. Thisoscillator/amplifier packaging arrangement of FIG. 5 has all theadvantages listed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/566,547 thatdiscussed the advantages of mounting two gain media, one on top of theother, to obtain one higher power oscillator and to share the samecoolant passages. Besides providing a rigid, compact and rugged packageit also provides a symmetric thermal design, which is beneficial from acavity alignment and beam-pointing viewpoint. One is referred to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/566,547 for additional detail of thispackaging approach. In this disclosure the package technique isapplicable to oscillator/amplifier combinations as well as to theoscillator combinations that were described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/566,547.

Since the output beam 407 of the Q-switched, cavity dumped laser 100, isrotated 90′, the output beam 407 has to undergo another 90° rotation inorder to pass through the waveguide amplifier 400 a with low loss. Thereason is that the polarization of the output beam 407 has to beparallel to the plane of the metal electrodes 724, 730 (FIGS. 13, 18,24A–25B) placed on either side of the ceramic waveguide 806 for low losspropagation through the waveguide 806 as discussed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/566,547. Such rotation can be accomplished with2, 3, or 4 mirror polarization rotators 411 as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/566,547, but other types of polarizationrotators can also be used. FIG. 5 illustrates the positioning of thepolarization rotator 411 with respect to the output beam 407.

In this configuration, instead of having two reflecting mirrorspositioned at 45° as in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/566,547, onewould use the TFP 404 and mirror M₃ 409 of FIG. 5 to redirect the outputbeam 407 of the oscillator 406 into the laser amplifier 400 a. Theperiscope in this case does not have to be attached to the laseroscillator head 400.

CW Pumped Q-Switched/Cavity Dumped Laser

The beginning of the explanation of the operation of the Q-switched,cavity dumped laser in the preferred configuration can be provided withthe aid of FIGS. 24A, 2413, 25A, 25B. The CdTe EOM crystal 142 is asdescribed for FIGS. 19, 20 and 21. The voltage across the EOM 140 isnormally off so that the deleterious effects explained for FIGS. 22 and23 do not occur. FIG. 6 illustrates the laser folded waveguides andassociated mirrors for either the oscillator or the amplifier head. Itwill be understood that the laser beam can be folded with turningmirrors without the use of waveguides. This invention is applicable toeither the folded waveguide or to the folded free space laser beam path.Note that optical output couplers 413 (OC) are transparent windows (e.g.ZnSe are suitable for CO₂ lasers for coupling out the laser radiationfrom the hermetrically sealed portion 400 of the laser head 400). Afolded five-pass NV configuration 806 is illustrated in FIGS. 6, 13, and18 but fewer or larger number of passes can be utilized in a waveguideor a free space arrangement. These windows 413 are hermetically sealedto the laser head 400 package so as to maintain a partial vacuum for theCO₂:N₂:He gas mixture inside the laser head 400 as disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/566,547 and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/612,733 entitled “High Power Waveguide Laser” filed on Jul. 10,2000 and incorporated herein by reference. FIG. 6 represents the multipass waveguide laser amplifier depicted in FIG. 5.

As explained in FIGS. 24A, 24B, 25A, 25B, and with reference to FIGS. 7and 12, with zero voltage applied to the CdTe EOM 140 (FIGS. 7A–7C orFIGS. 12A–12C, the laser is in a high loss state because the reflectivephase retarder (RPR) 410 rotates the radiation within the feedbackwithin the resonator cavity 406, 408 by 45° on each reflection for atotal of 90° in a round trip. Consequently, feedback is prevented fromoccurring because the thin film polarizer 404, TFP, prevents thispolarization from passing through it. In FIGS. 24A, 24B, 25A, 25B theTFP 404 was located at the end of the laser head that was near the CdTeEOM crystal. It is optional on which end of the gain medium it islocated. When the high voltage is applied to the CdTe EOM crystal 142(FIG. 7E or 12E), polarization is rotated by 45° on each pass for atotal of 90° rotation. This polarization is able to propagate throughthe TFP 404 and laser radiation begins to build-up within the opticalresonator as explained for FIGS. 27 and 28 (see FIGS. 7F and 12F). Thiscavity build up time is approximately ½ microsecond for sealed-off CO₂lasers. After a laser cavity build-up time (CBT), strong oscillationsbuild up rapidly within the feedback cavity. The rise time of the laserpulse for sealed-off CO₂ lasers is approximately 70 to 100 nsec. Sincethe feedback mirror 406 is a totally reflecting mirror in the cavitydumped case, and mirror 408 is almost totally reflecting (i.e. 99.5% orhigher) essentially no radiation escapes from the optical cavity.Consequently, the radiation builds up a little faster in the opticalcavity of a cavity dumped laser in the configuration of FIG. 5 than inthe Q-switched laser case where FBM 406 is partially reflecting withapproximately 50% to 70% reflectivity. This leads to a slightly fasterpulse rise time. The cavity build-up time is typically 70 to 100 nsecdepending on the gain of the laser-medium and losses associated with theoptical resonator. After the optical radiation stored within theresonator reaches a maximum, the voltage on the EOM crystal 142 isquickly removed so that the radiation stored within the cavity is“dumped” or coupled out of the cavity by the TFP 404 (see FIG. 7G or12G). The pulse width of the radiation coupled out of the cavity isapproximately equal to the time required for the radiation to make oneround trip within the cavity. For a five-pass folded waveguide laserconfiguration 806 shown in FIG. 6, the pulse width is between 10 to 20nsec depending on the length of the laser resonator. SimultaneouslyQ-switched cavity dumped lasers have approximately one order ofmagnitude shorter pulses than Q-switched CO₂ lasers.

The sequence of events that lead up to a Q-switched, cavity dumpedoutput pulse is schematically illustrated by FIGS. 7A through 7G. InFIG. 7A, at a given time “t_(a)” RF power is applied to the laser head.This RF power results in a build up of the population in the upperquantum level of the laser medium as shown in FIG. 7B. Once thepopulation of the upper quantum level reaches steady state at time“t_(b)” (which is on the order of 10 microseconds, depending on variousconditions such as pump power, temperature, cavity Q, etc.), a commandvoltage signal is feed to the RS-422 pulse receiver to apply a highvoltage to the electrodes 144, 146 of the EOM crystal 142 as illustratedin FIGS. 7C and 7E respectively.

This high voltage allows positive feedback with the optical resonator todevelop and optical energy storage begins to build up within theresonator as shown in FIG. 7F. Since the feedback mirrors are highlyreflective, little or no radiation leaks out of the laser resonator andthe optical radiation stored within the resonator builds up to a veryhigh level. The time, CBT, to build up to a maximum is typically lessthan 0.5 microseconds (i.e. 300 to 450 nsec). Once the maximum radiationenergy storage is reached within the resonator at time “t_(c)”, anothercommand voltage signal is supplied to the high voltage switch 206 toremove the high voltage from the CdTe EOM crystal 142 as shown in FIG.7D. As previously described, this rotates the polarization of theradiation within the resonator so that the cavity is converted to a highloss condition by coupling the radiation out of the optical resonator bythe TFP 404, of FIG. 5. The dumping of the radiation within theresonator occurs in a time (T) approximately equal to twice the opticallength (L) of the optical cavity (L=the unfolded optical path betweenmirrors M₁ and M₂) divided by the velocity of light, c. For the laserwaveguide 806 illustrated by FIG. 6, T≈10 to 20 nsec, with 15 nsec beingtypical. The peak powers of the output cavity dumped laser pulse canexceed 20 kW in the case of continuously RF pumped sealed-off diffusioncooled waveguide CO₂ lasers and much higher under simultaneous RF superpulsed excitation of the discharge.

For the CW RF pumping condition shown in FIGS. 7A through 7G, the energystorage in the upper laser state again achieves steady state at time“t_(e)” shown in FIG. 7B. Consequently, the process can be repeated. Fordiffusion cooled waveguide CO₂ lasers, 100 kHz pulse repletion rates arereadily achieved. Cavity dumping automatically eliminates the long tail344 a associated with Q-switched laser pulses. This tail elimination isadvantageous in materialprocessing applications.

Automatic Time Delay Circuits for Simultaneously Q-Switched and CavityDumped Lasers

One simple circuit for achieving the timing of the command signal ofFIG. 7D to coincide with the peak of the resonator energy storage cycle(see FIG. 7F) so as to maximize the energy content of the cavity dumpedpulse of FIG. 7G is the circuit of FIG. 8A or 9. Faster electroniccomponents are required (such as emitter coupled logic (ECL) circuits)for the cavity-dumped operation than are used in the Q-switched case.These faster logic circuits are used in the high speed logic blockillustrated in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8B illustrates the build-up of the energystored within the resonator and the subsequent cavity dumped pulse thatoccurs when the amplified electrical signal, S₁, resulting from theQ-switched radiation, building up within the resonator and irradiatingdetector PDT 302, is applied to a voltage comparator 314 and it becomesgreater than a selected voltage bias signal, S2 ₂. When S₁ becomeslarger than S₂ the voltage comparator 314 issues a signal 316 to a highspeed logic circuit 324 which issues a command signal 308 to the highvoltage switch 206 to turn off the voltage to the EOM crystal 142. Theelectronic propagation time delay, τ, is of the order of 40 to 50 nsec.The optical signal detected by the detector PDT 302 of FIG. 8A isobtained from M₁ of FIG. 5 (or from mirror FBM of FIG. 18). When thevoltage applied to the EOM 140 is turned off, the energy stored withinthe resonator is dumped out of the resonator by the TFP 404 to yield ashort laser output pulse of 10 to 20 nsec duration.

One problem with the ADDC circuit 300 of FIG. 8A is that it cannotcompensate for changing pulse amplitudes that occur because of changesin the laser pulse repetition rates or from second order effects arisingfrom temperature variations. Changes in these parameters cause changesin the quantum population and its quantum build-up time (QPBT), which inturn changes the gain of the laser medium, the cavity build-up time(CBT) and the rise time of the Q-switched radiation building up withinthe optical resonators. Without timing compensation, variations willoccur in the peak power of the cavity dumped pulses as the repetitionrate and temperature vary.

FIG. 9 illustrates a ADDC circuit 300, which can compensate for changesin pulse repetition rates and temperature. The use of emitter coupledlogic (ECL) components will enable the realization of 40 to 50 nsecelectronic propagation times (EPT) from the electrical signal 304generated by the detector 302 through the preamplifier 310, the voltagecomparator 314, the logic circuit 324 and the high voltage switch 206 ofFIG. 5. A time varying voltage bias signal 332 in the form of a DCvoltage bias plus a ramp signal 330 can be utilized to adjust the signal320 (S₂) fed to the voltage comparator 314. When the amplified signal(S₁) 312 from the detector 302 is equal or greater than S₂, the logiccircuit 324 issues a command signal 308 to remove the high voltageacross the CdTe EOM crystal 142 (see FIGS. 7D or 12D). The voltage ramp328, 330 can be linear or nonlinear depending on the exact amount ofcompensation desired. The voltage ramp 328, 330 can have either apositive slope as in FIGS. 10A through 10C or a negative slope as inFIGS. 11A through 11C or other arrangements.

In FIG. 9, the command pulse 308 is provided to turn on the voltage tothe EOM 140 by way of the RS-422 pulse receiver 202 of FIG. 5 as shownin FIGS. 7C and 12C. The timer 338 also provides a signal 334 after anappropriate time delay, as shown between the pulses of FIG. 7C and FIGS.7D and 12C and 12D, which starts the voltage ramp 328, 330. Thesummation of the voltage ramp 328 plus the DC bias voltage 332constitutes the signal S₂=V±ΔV (i.e. the plus or minus sign is selectedby the slope and polarity of the ramp voltage 328 and the bias voltage,V 332). The timer 338 issues a default signal 340, after an appropriatedelay, to turn off the high voltage applied to the EOM crystal 142 inthe event that a fault occurs and the command signal 308 from the highspeed logic 324 is not issued to the high voltage switch 206 when thecondition S₁≧S₂ exists.

FIG. 10A illustrates the build-up of the radiation stored within theoptical resonator as detected by the detector 302 and corresponding toFIGS. 7F and 12F under various conditions which cause the laser build uptime to vary in time as the peak power of the radiation is reduced. Thechanges in the laser pulse amplitudes and the time delays of the cavitybuild-up radiation are determined primarily from gain changes that occurin the laser medium arising from variations in RF pump power pulserepetition rate and temperature. For lower gain, the CBT becomes longerand the peak power becomes lower. The electronic propagation time (EPT)is fixed at approximately 40 nsec to 50 nsec. If the high voltage pulsewidth (HVPT) of FIGS. 7E and 12E is also fixed, then dumping of theradiation within the cavity will not occur at the peak of the Q-switchedradiation stored within the optical resonator. This problem associatedwith the ADDC of FIG. 8A can be compensated with the use of a voltageramp 328 a as indicated in FIG. 10B. The voltage ramp 328 a adjusts thetime at which S₁≧S₂ to compensate for the increase in the laser cavitybuild-up time (CBT). This automatically adjusts the high voltage pulsewidth (HVPT) of FIGS. 7E and 12E to insure that optimum peak powers areobtained with changes in CBT. FIG. 10C illustrates the use of a negativevoltage ramp 328 b with a positive slope so that the condition issatisfied when S₁=V−ΔV where V is larger than ΔV. This approach is alsoapplicable in the simultaneous super pulse repetitively Q-switchedcavity dumped operation of FIGS. 38, 39 and 12. Normally in thesimultaneous super pulse repetitive Q-switched operation succeedingpulses decrease in amplitude and the corrections of FIGS. 10A through10C are useful in compensating for this behavior when “cavity dumped”operation is utilized.

One problem that may occur with the circuit of FIG. 9 is electricalnoise that could interfere with the low voltage levels at which thecondition S₁≧S₂ is to be satisfied. Because of the high voltage in thefast switching associated with turning on and off the EOM 140,electromagnetic interference (EMI) could make reliable triggering of thelogic circuit 324 when S₁≧S₂ difficult. The voltage ramp configuration328 c of FIGS. 11A through 11C can eliminate this EMI problem by raisingthe voltage high enough so the S₁≧S₂ condition occurs above the EMInoise level.

Increasing the speed of the electronics means that smaller EDT can beaccommodated which means that triggering higher up on the pulse risetime can be accommodated which in turn reduces the EMI noise problemswith this approach.

In FIGS. 11A through 1C, a combination of a DC bias and a negativelysloped voltage ramp 328 c, 328 d are used so that S₂=V+ΔV_(n) where n=1,2, 3, . . . m. Both approaches of FIGS. 10A through 10C and 11A through11C are able to vary the HVPT high voltage pulse width applied to theEOM 140 to enable the “cavity dump” to occur at approximately the peakof the cavity radiation build-up with a constant EPT. For more accuratecompensation, an appropriate concave curvature 328 d to the voltage rampcan be used as shown in FIG. 11C. The actual curvature, for example, anexponential decay such as V(t)=V_(o) e^(−βt), is determined by eitherexperiment or analysis to fit the Q-switched, cavity dumped laser model.The approaches of FIGS. 11A through 11C are also useful in thesimultaneous super pulse repetitive Q-switch operation of FIGS. 38, 39.

Super Pulse Pumped Q-Switched/Cavity Dumped Laser

The advantages of super pulsed pumping of a simultaneously Q-switched,cavity dumped laser are the same as for the Q-switched laser describedin FIGS. 38A, 38B and 39, namely, the ability to greatly increase theenergy storage in the upper laser level so as to obtain higher energy inthe cavity dumped pulse and correspondingly higher peak powers. Both aredesired in short pulse material processing applications. This isachieved with a RF power supply 716 having an average power equal to orless than ½ the pulsed peak power. The high peak power is obtained byoperating the power supply 716 at a duty cycle of ½ or less. The ratioof the pulsed peak power to the average power obtainable is determinedby the solid-state power devices used and the pulsed duty cycle at whichthe RF power supply operates. The lower the duty cycle, the higher theRF peak power operation that can be achieved. Considerably higher peakpower/average power ratios are obtained by the use of RF vacuum tubes asthe power devices inside the RF power supply rather than the use oftransistors. The use of higher RF peak power enables the use of highergas pressures within the laser head 400, than are possible with CW RFpower because of the difficulty in initiating a discharge as well aswith the occurrence of arching within high-pressure DC discharges. Sucharching is deleterious to laser action. The use of higher RF frequenciesalso enables the use of higher gas pressures but at added expense,especially with solid-state devices. A decrease in the diffusion coolingof the gas occurs with increasing pressures. To compensate for thisreduced cooling at higher pressures, lower super pulse repetitionfrequencies are used. The lower cost advantages gained by utilizingsuper pulsed laser operation to obtain higher energy per pulse makes theuse of super RF pulse excitation of the gas medium worthwhile.Consequently, simultaneously super-pulsed operation with Q-switching andcavity dumping is advantageous.

FIGS. 12A through 12F illustrate the sequence of events for super pulsedpumped Q-switched, cavity dumped laser operation; whereas FIGS. 7A–7Gillustrate the sequence of events for CW pumped Q-switched cavity dumpedoperation. Except for changes in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the operation isessentially the same as that described in FIGS. 7A through 7G. Thediscussion for the ADDC 300 is the same as for FIGS. 8A and 8B, 9, 10A,10B, 10C and 11A, 11B and 11C. These same ADDC circuits 300 are alsousable with the super pulsed cavity dumped approach. FIGS. 12A through12G uses a super RF pulse excitation duty cycle of ½ as an example.

FIG. 12A illustrates, as an example, a super pulse power (P_(RFP)) equalto twice the continuous wave (i.e. average) power (P_(RFCW)) capabilityof the RF power supplied to a diffusion-cooled laser. The duty cycleshown is ½ of the average power. This quoted duty cycle serves only asan example. Lower duty cycles with corresponding higher peak powers canbe utilized with the use of vacuum tubes or advanced technologytransistors. When the RF power is turned on at time “t_(a),” overpopulation of the upper laser level begins and after a quantumpopulation build-up time (QPBT), the population reaches a steady stateat time “t_(b).” For a RF super pulsed operation having a duty cycle of½, the average power for a diffusion cooled laser having an output powercapability of 100 W under normal continuous operation and subjected tothe losses associated with the optical components inserted in theoptical resonator indicated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 13, the QPBT is typicallyless than 10 microseconds. Pumping the discharge harder would furtherdecrease this time.

When the steady state is reached at point “t_(b)” or soon after, acommand pulse (FIG. 12C) is issued to turn on the high voltage to theEOM crystal 142 (FIG. 12E). Applying high voltage to the EOM 140 causeslaser action to begin, thereby causing optical radiation to build-upwithin the laser resonator. This typically has a time between 300 to 450nsec for the conditions stated. When the Q-switched radiation within thelaser cavity builds to a peak at time “t_(c)” (i.e. the cavity build-uptime, CBT) as shown in FIG. 12F, a voltage pulse issued by the ADDC ofeither FIGS. 8A, 9, 10A, 10B and 11C, or 11A, 11B and 11C and 12D causesthe high voltage across the EOM 140 to drop to zero as illustrated byFIG. 12E. This causes the radiation stored within the resonator to bedumped out of the resonator, as shown in FIG. 12G, by the TFP 404 ofFIG. 5 in a equal to approximately the optical round trip time withinthe optical resonator (i.e. typically 10 to 20 nsec). This causes theradiation within the resonator to drop essentially to zero at time“t_(d)” since the RF excitation pulse is also terminated atapproximately time “t_(c).” This process can be repeated by againturning on the super pulse at time “1” as in FIG. 12A, etc to achievethe desired repetition rate. Pulse repetition rates upto and exceeding100 kHz can be obtained.

While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, variousmodifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to beunderstood that the present invention has been described by way ofillustrations and not limitation.

1. A Q-switched, cavity dumped laser system, comprising: an opticalcavity; a gain medium located in the cavity; a Q-switch located in thecavity operative to switch the cavity between a high loss state and alow loss state, wherein during the high loss state a gain in the gainmedium increases and thereafter when the Q-switch is changed to a lowloss state the gain in the gain medium is depleted creating a high peakpower pulse, and thereafter when the Q-switch is changed to a high lossstate the Q-switch pulse is coupled out of the cavity; an opticaldetector operative to detect the build up of the Q-switch pulse whilethe Q-switch is in the low loss state and provide a detector outputvoltage signal in response thereto; a comparator for receiving theoutput voltage signal of the detector and generating a trigger signalwhen the voltage signal generated by the detector reaches apredetermined level; a timer operative to receive the trigger signal andprovide a timing signal in response thereto, the timing signal beingreceived by the Q-switch for switching back to the high loss state inorder to couple the pulse out of the cavity; and a laser beam outputcoupler providing cavity dumping by directing laser energy out of theoptical cavity when the optical cavity is in a high loss state.
 2. Alaser system as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a pulsed signalgeneration system connected to the Q-switch for delivering a pulsedsignal to the Q-switch, thereby controlling a state of loss within theoptical cavity.
 3. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein: saidQ-switch includes an optical crystal and wherein the Q-switch operatesin the high loss state when the voltage applied to the crystal is zeroand in a low loss state when a prescribed non-zero voltage is applied tothe crystal.
 4. A method of operating a Q-switched, cavity dumped lasersystem including an optical cavity, a gain medium located in the cavity,and a Q-switch located in the cavity operative to switch the cavitybetween a high loss state and a low loss state, wherein during the highloss state, the gain in the gain medium increases and thereafter whenthe Q-switch is changed to a low loss state the gain in the gain mediumis depleted creating a high peak power pulse and thereafter when theQ-switch is changed to a high loss state the Q-switch pulse is coupledout of the cavity, the method comprising: providing cavity dumping bydirecting laser energy out of the optical cavity as a Q-switched pulsewhen the optical cavity is in a high loss state; detecting the build upof the Q-switched pulse while the Q-switch is in the low loss state;comparing the level of the Q-switch pulse to a predetermined level andthereafter initiating a predetermined delay time; and generating asignal to the Q-switch after the predetermined delay time to cause theQ-switch to switch back to the high loss state thereby causing the pulseto be coupled out of the cavity.
 5. A method as recited in claim 4,wherein said Q-switch includes an optical crystal and wherein theQ-switch operates in the high loss state when the voltage applied to thecrystal is zero and in a low loss state when a prescribed non-zerovoltage is applied to the crystal.
 6. A Q-switched, cavity dumped lasersystem, comprising: an optical cavity; a gain medium located in thecavity; a Q-switch located in the cavity operative to switch the cavitybetween a high loss state and a low loss state, wherein during the highloss state a gain in the gain medium increases and thereafter when theQ-switch is changed to a low loss state the gain in the gain medium isdepleted creating a high peak power pulse, and thereafter when theQ-switch is changed to a high loss state the Q-switch pulse is coupledout of the cavity, said Q-switch including an optical crystal andwherein the Q-switch operates in the high loss state when the voltageapplied to the crystal is zero and in a low loss state when a prescribednon-zero voltage is applied to the crystal; an optical detectoroperative to detect the build up of the Q-switch pulse while theQ-switch is in the low loss state and provide a detector signal inresponse thereto; a timer operative to receive the detector signal andprovide a timing signal in response thereto, the timing signal beingreceived by the Q-switch for switching back to the high loss state inorder to couple the pulse out of the cavity; and a laser beam outputcoupler providing cavity dumping by directing laser energy out of theoptical cavity when the optical cavity is in a high loss state.